Men's Asian Hockey 5s World Cup Qualifier: India defeat Bangladesh by 15-1
The Indian Men's Hockey Team began their Asian Hockey 5s World Cup Qualifier on a high note as they defeated Bangladesh by 15-1 in the tournament opener at Salalah, Oman.
After an unbeaten run by the women's hockey team, their counterparts had a similar start to their campaign on Tuesday.
During the start, Bangladesh stunned India with their counter-attack and Sawon Sarowar helped them go 1-0 early in the match. India managed to pull things back in seconds, thanks to Mohammed Raheel's field goal.
For the next five minutes, both teams saved multiple goals and the score remained 1-1. The final ten minutes of the first half witnessed six goals from India as they finished the first half 7-1. India proved too good for Bangladesh in the second half as they controlled the entire proceedings.
In the next ten minutes, India scored thrice to move to 10-1 at the end of 20 minutes. In the final ten minutes, Maninder Singh scored thrice to help India finish 15-1 in their first match of the Men's Asian Hockey 5s World Cup Qualifier.
Maninder Singh and Mohammad Raheel scored a hat-trick against Bangladesh in the Asian Hockey 5s World Cup Qualifier
India's tournament opener against Bangladesh witnessed two hattricks. Maninder Singh scored four goals, while Mohammed Raheel scored three goals for the team as they finished 15-1.
Mohammad Raheel was the first to score for India. He found the equalizer in the second minute of the match. Maninder Singh's first goal came in the 10th minute, helping India move to 4-1 during the first half. Mohammad Raheel also scored a field goal in the 15th minute of the match and completed his hat-trick in the 24th minute.
Maninder Singh scored two goals in the final ten minutes of the match (28', 30') to finish with four goals. India's Sukhvinder, Gurjot Singh and Pawan scored two goals apiece, while captain Mandeep Mor and Dipsan Tirkey scored once for India in their massive victory.
India will be back in action in the Men's Asian Hockey 5s World Cup Qualifier on August 30th, where they will take on Oman at 3:30 PM IST and Pakistan at 8:30 PM IST.