– by Pratyusha Mukherjee, Aichi-Nagoya, Japan
The Indian men’s hockey team continued its dominant start to the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026, cruising to a 16-1 victory over Sri Lanka in their second Pool A match at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium on Tuesday.
The defending Asian Games champions followed up their 13-1 win over Indonesia with another emphatic performance, scoring freely across all four quarters. Jugraj Singh starred with four goals, while Abhishek and Dilpreet Singh completed hat-tricks as India underlined their attacking depth.
India took control early, with Mandeep Singh opening the scoring in the fifth minute after a well-worked move involving Jarmanpreet Singh. Jugraj doubled the advantage from a penalty corner five minutes later before Abhishek made it 3-0 in the 11th minute.
Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty corner in the 16th minute, and Abhishek struck again a minute later to put India 5-0 ahead. Jugraj added his second in the 22nd minute, although he was denied a hat-trick soon after when his 24th-minute effort was ruled out following a video referral.
India restored their six-goal cushion in the 29th minute when Sukhjeet Singh finished a well-executed penalty-corner variation. Dilpreet Singh then found the net in the 30th minute as India went into half-time with an 8-0 lead.
The onslaught continued after the break. Manpreet Singh scored with a powerful strike in the 31st minute, while Vivek Sagar Prasad added another through a backhand finish five minutes later. Dilpreet struck again in the 38th minute before Jugraj completed his hat-trick from a penalty stroke in the 42nd minute.
Harmanpreet added his second goal of the match in the 45th minute, leaving India 13-0 ahead at the end of the third quarter.
Abhishek completed his hat-trick in the 49th minute before Sri Lanka finally found a breakthrough through Suresh Rathnayake in the 50th minute.
India quickly resumed their attacking charge, with Jugraj converting another penalty stroke in the 53rd minute to score his fourth goal. Dilpreet then completed his hat-trick two minutes later to round off a comprehensive 16-1 victory.
The result gives India two wins from two matches in Pool A. They will next take on South Korea on September 24.
