The Indian men's hockey team finished their pool engagements the way they began - with a rout. On Monday, they blanked a hapless Bangladesh 12-0 to maintain their top position in the Asian Games hockey competition.
India will play South Korea in the semifinal while China, who topped Pool B will take on Japan in the other semifinal.
Having started their campaign with a 16-0 win over Uzbekistan, they put up another dominant show to head into the knockout rounds. The five pool matches have mostly been a stroll in the park for India, who have scored an incredible 58 goals while conceding five.
Largely untested thus far, especially the defence line, India's real challenge begins in the semifinals on Wednesday. Skipper Harmanpreet Singh, who missed the opening match due to a niggle, and striker Mandeep Singh led the charge with three goals each. One of the bright sparks was India's focus on the intensity and speed of the game. Although Bangladesh, ranked 29th in the world, never came close to testing the Indians, the latter went about implementing their gameplan to better their previous show against their neighbours. The last time the teams faced each other was in the 2021 Asian Champions Trophy, in which India prevailed 9-0. India wasted no time in punishing Bangladesh.
Harmanpreet, with his powerful drag-flick, put India ahead in the second minute and soon doubled the lead.
By half-time, India had scored half a dozen goals.
Result: India 12 (Harmanpreet Singh 2, 4, 32; Mandeep Singh 18, 24, 46; Abhishek 41, 57, Lalit Upadhyay 23, Amit Rohidas 28, Nilakanta Sharma 47, Gurjant Singh 56) bt Bangladesh 0
