– by Pratyusha Mukherjee, Aichi-Nagoya, Japan
India signed off their Asian Games 2026 men’s hockey Pool A campaign in emphatic fashion, thrashing Bangladesh 10-0 in a rain-hit contest on Monday to register their fifth straight win.
Captain Harmanpreet Singh led the rout with a hat-trick, while Shilanand Lakra scored twice as the defending champions finished atop Pool A with a perfect five wins from five matches and a goal difference of +45.
India will now face arch-rivals Pakistan in the semi-finals on October 1. Malaysia and South Korea will contest the other semi-final.
Heavy rain made conditions difficult throughout the match, with the pitch becoming increasingly waterlogged. The start was delayed by 30 minutes after the Pakistan-Oman match was briefly suspended because of the downpour.
India, however, adapted quickly and took the lead in the third minute. Sanjay created space inside the circle before finding Abhishek, who unleashed a reverse hit past the Bangladesh goalkeeper.
Bangladesh had a chance to level when they earned a penalty corner in the 12th minute, but Suraj Karkera was equal to Amirul Islam’s drag-flick.
India doubled their advantage in the 22nd minute after a penalty corner resulted in a penalty stroke when Jugraj Singh’s drag-flick struck a defender’s foot on the post. Jugraj converted confidently to make it 2-0.
Harmanpreet then added India’s third in the 27th minute, beating the Bangladesh defence with a powerful penalty-corner flick to give India a 3-0 lead at half-time.
Sukhjeet Singh extended the advantage in the 32nd minute after combining with Dilpreet Singh in a slick attacking move. Harmanpreet struck again in the 40th minute, converting another penalty corner to make it 5-0.
Shilanand Lakra then took over, scoring in the 44th and 45th minutes to put India 7-0 ahead. Harmanpreet completed his hat-trick soon after, finding the net from another penalty corner as India ended the third quarter 8-0 ahead.
Despite the worsening conditions in the final quarter, India continued to press. Sanjay scored from a penalty corner in the 59th minute before Mandeep Singh completed the rout in the final minute, converting the rebound after Sukhjeet’s effort was saved.
The 10-0 victory completed a dominant Pool A campaign for India, who had earlier defeated Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Japan and South Korea.
The defending champions will now have a two-day break before their semi-final clash against Pakistan on October 1.
