India continued their unbeaten run in the Hockey Asia Cup while they thrashed arch-rivals Pakistan 4-0 to sail into the final of the tournament here at Dhaka in Bangladesh. India produced a superlative performance with three field strikes by Satbir Singh (39th minute), Gurjant Singh (57th), Lalit Upadhyay (52nd) and one through penalty by Harmanpreet Singh (51st). By virtue of this win, India not only topped the Super 4 stage with seven points,
The sixth ranked India, who just needed a draw to seal a place on Sunday’s summit clash. But India wasted no chance of winning the game against Pakistan. Satbir gave India the lead in the 39th minute after receiving a fine back stick pass from Lalit.But India missed a few penalty corners. pressed on the gas in the final 10 minutes and scored three goals in a span of six minutes to run away with the game. While Harmanpreet Singh scored his seventh goal of the tournament from India’s sixth penalty corner, Lalit made it 3-0 a minute later by pouncing on a loose ball inside the D. India added salt to Pakistan’s wounds when Gurjant slotted home three minutes from the final hooter after receiving a precision pass from Akshdeep Singh from the right flank.
It was India’s4th win over Pakistan this year, having beaten them twice in the Hockey World League Semi-finals in London and once in the pool stages here. The defeat knocked Pakistan out of the final race and India will now play either Malaysia in the final.
