India begin with goal fest

Muscat, October 18 

Young striker Dilpreet Singh struck a hat-trick as India started their title defence with an 11-0 hammering of hosts Oman in the Asian Champions Trophy here today. It was a lopsided contest to start with — world No. 5 India being Asia’s highest ranked side, 28 places above Oman. In the end, India had over 30 shots on goal, had more than 50 circle entries, and enjoyed 80 percent possession in Oman’s half.

But India didn’t have the best of starts and couldn’t score in the first quarter. It was only after Lalit Upadhyay opened the scoring in the 17th minute that the floodgates opened. Harmanpreet Singh (22nd), Nilakanta Sharma (23rd), Mandeep Singh (29th), Gurjant Singh (37th), Akashdeep Singh (48th), Varun Kumar (49th) and Chinglensana Singh (53rd) added one goal each, while Dilpreet (41st, 55th, 57th) completed a late hat-trick.

Malaysia avenge Asiad loss

Earlier, Malaysia began their campaign with a 3-0 victory over reigning Asian Games champions Japan. A replay of the Asian Games final, Malaysia rode on two early penalty-corner conversions to grab control of the match.

Faisal Saari opened the scoring with a drag-flick in the third minute, while Tengku Tajuddin scored off a rebound in the ninth minute.

Saari converted a penalty stroke in the 51st minute to seal the win. — Agencies