Muscat [Oman], Oct 21 : After registering a convincing 11-0 win over hosts Oman in their opening game, the Indian Men’s Hockey Team registered a 3-1 victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in the ongoing Asian Hockey Champions Trophy here on Saturday (local time).
Although the Indian side got off to a shaky start, crucial goals from captain Manpreet Singh, forward player Mandeep Singh and forward Dilpreet Singh helped Indiaregister their second consecutive victory in the ongoing tournament.
The match got off to a steady start for Pakistan, who dominated the first quarter of the match with a quick goal from Mohammad Irfan Jr. However, the second quarter saw the Indian team bounce back with captain Manpreet scoring a significant goal to equalise the score.
The captain’s feat was followed shortly by a seamless manoeuvre from Mandeep Singh, who maintained possession of the ball long enough to flick it backwards and help it seamlessly roll into the net. In the 42nd minute of the game, halfback Lalit Upadhyay managed to make a fine pass to Dilpreet, which the latter meticulously converted into a second goal for India and his fourth in the tournament so far.
The last edition of the tournament saw India remain undefeated as they beat Japan 10-2, drew 1-1 with South Korea, beat Pakistan 3-2, beat China 9-0 and Malaysia 2-1 in the Pool stages while winning their Semi-Final match against South Korea 5-4 in Penalty Shootout.
India had won the inaugural edition in 2011, whereas Pakistan won the 2012 and 2013 editions by defeating India and Japan, respectively, before India won the 2016 edition by beating Pakistan in the final match. World number five India will next face Japan on October 21.
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