Asian Champions Trophy: India trounce China 7-2 to get off to winning start

Harmanpreet Singh and Varun Kumar scored two goals each as India thrashed China 7-2 to begin their Asian Champions Trophy hockey campaign on a winning note at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Chennai on Thursday.

Both Harmanpreet (5th, 8th minutes) and Varun (19th, 30th) found the back of the board with penalty corners, while Sukhjeet Singh (15th), Akashdeep Singh (16th) and Mandeep Singh (40th) got the other three goals.

China’s two goals came via Wenhui E (18th) and Jiesheng Gao (25th).

🏑 FULL TIME: 🇮🇳 India 7-2 China 🇨🇳

4' Harmanpreet Singh (1-0)
7' Harmanpreet (2-0)
14' Sukhjeet Singh (3-0)
15' Akashdeep Singh (4-0)
17' Wenhui E (4-1)
18' Varun Kumar (5-1)
24' Jiesheng Gao (5-2)
29' Varun Kumar (6-2)
40' Mandeep Singh (7-2)https://t.co/0kooOwE9Xc

— Firstpost Sports (@FirstpostSports) August 3, 2023

India got off to a resounding start in the first quarter, as it took them just five minutes to earn a penalty corner, and skipper Harmanpreet made no mistake in successfully converting it.

The second goal for him and India arrived three minutes later. With yet another penalty corner, Harmanpreet went in the same direction as the first and beat the keeper.

Down by two goals early into the match, China struggled to penetrate the Indian defence, as most of the action took place in the their half.

At the stroke of the first quarter hooter, India received another penalty corner. Varun’s flick was saved by the Chinese defence but Sukhjeet scored from the rebound.

With a 3-0 lead, India started the second quarter on on a confident note.

Sweet moments to cherish as Manpreet reunites with his family after the match against China.#HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #HACT2023 pic.twitter.com/C4Vd8VaihX

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) August 3, 2023

Just two minutes into the second quarter, Manpreet Singh provided an assist for Akshdeep to score and make it 4-0 to India.

However, just a minute later, China capitalised on a mistake by India in not just breaking China early but Varun erred in grabbing an aerial ball. It sent Wenhui free who scored past India goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak.

China’s opening goal almost spurred the Indian team off with Varun making amends for his mistake a minute later. He scored from a set piece to bring up the fifth goal.

China earned their first penalty corner in the 25th minute. While the first shot was blocked away, the second was successfully converted. Gao scored with a sublime shot into the top corner with no chance for Pathak.

At the stroke of half time, Varun scored into the top-right corner from a penalty corner as India took a commanding 6-2 lead at the break.

After the change of ends, things did not change much for China.

The lowest ranked side in the tournament tried to up the ante but gave away a couple of penalty corners again. One in the 40th minute saw Amit Rohidas’ dragflick being deflected into the goal by Mandeep Singh for India’s seventh goal.

The fourth quarter didn’t produce any goals with Akashdeep Singh going close with a goal-line clearance denying him and India an eighth goal.

#Hero#HACT2023#asiahockey pic.twitter.com/0siK5mgLeB

— Asian Hockey Federation (@asia_hockey) August 3, 2023

Next up for India, the top ranked side in the tournament, are Japan on Friday.

Earlier in the day, South Korea beat Japan 2-1 and Malaysia defeated Pakistan 3-1.