Kakamigahara, Sep 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) Defending champions India continued their winning run in the Asian Games 2026 hockey event with a third straight win in their Pool A.
In a battle between four-time champions, India defeated the Korean side 8-2 to consolidate their top spot in Pool A and handed the 2006 champions their first defeat in the pool stage.
Dilpreet Singh scored twice, as did Abhishek, while Shilanand Lakra, captain Harmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh and Rajinder Singh also scored to hand the Men in Blue a big win and take them closer to a place in the semifinals.
Shilanand opened the scoring with a fourth-minute strike for the Hangzhou Games champions before Sukhjeet doubled the lead to 2-0. The Indians kept their foot on the pedal as they got a penalty corner in the next minute, which the skipper converted and put India 3-0 before Manpreet's aerial found Lakra, who picked Abhishek in front of the goal for a 4-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Men in Blue maintained the pressure in the second quarter, with Lakra threatening. The South Koreans managed to intercept another promising move involving Abhishek, but India made another strike in the 26th minute when Abhishek fed Mandeep inside the circle, and his reverse push was met by Dilpreet, who got the decisive touch to make it 5-0 at half-time.
The second quarter also saw a couple of green cards for Amit Rohidas and Jarmanpreet Singh, but the Men in Blue kept their dominance intact. India produced another goal as early as the 32nd minute. Hardik’s pass found Dilpreet, who reverse-hit one to sound the board to complete his brace.
The Koreans were under the pump once more when India earned a series of penalty corners. The Indians balanced attack with precise defence as Amit made an important defensive intervention to deny the opponents after South Korea's first penalty corner of the match. The Men in Blue took their lead 7-0 when Abhishek hit one into the back of the net after Raj Kumar’s effort struck the crossbar in the 38th minute.
Korea's first goal came in the last few minutes of the third quarter when JaeHo Kim pulled one back in the 42nd minute to make it 7-1 at the end of the third quarter.
Korea found a few more opportunities in the final quarter with several penalty corners and got another one when Yong Bok Kim capitalised on a loose defensive challenge from Jarmanpreet Singh to score a field goal.
India continued to push for more in the last couple of minutes of the contest and found another goal when Rajinder converted a penalty corner to seal an 8-2 win. India will now meet hosts Japan on Saturday.
Source: IANS
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