India trounce China in Asian Champions Trophy opener: 5-0 – Hockey Update
In order to make an impressive start, the Men’s hockey team of India defeated the host China by five goals in the opening match of the first Asian Champions Trophy match held in Ordos, China on September 3.
This victory will definitely help the Indian team to reduce their pressure being a side comprised of youngsters. They leaned numerous things from the practice match that had an assist in the maiden victory.
Both India and China started the game cautiously, as they were not in position to make fouls and give either side a chance for goal-scoring. The Chinese team was not very confident for the victory, as their four key players were missing from the team. The
visiting team took the advantage and started back-to-back attacks against the home side. Their efforts paid off when Gurwinder Singh Chandi of India scored the first goal of the game in the fifth minute of the match and put his side ahead on the scoreboard.
He managed to take the ball at the top of the circle and volleyed a powerful shot in the Chinese goal.
Conversely, the host team did not speed-up their efforts in search of an equaliser and continued their cautious game. The visitors found many chances for scoring goals but failed to do so. In the 15th minute, Rajpal Singh received a sure-goal
scoring chance to no avail.
The Chinese attackers made efforts through the mid-way point to make a comeback into the game. However, Rupinder Pal Singh displayed a dazzling performance on defence and denied plenty of attacks. At 19 minutes into the match, Rupinder made a crucial dive
to clear the ball to maintain their lead in the game.
After missing few chances, the visiting team earned another opportunity in the 21st minute of the first half when Chinese goalie Xu Rui blocked a couple of attempts. However, he failed for the third time when Yuvraj Walmiki took the advantage
and slammed the ball into the cage, giving him no chance to stop the ball at any point. India was leading the game 2-1, which was enough to establish their dominance over the field.
The visitors earned their first short corner of the game in the 25th minute but Ravi Pal failed to stop the ball properly and missed a golden chance to increase the tally. It was complete action in the first half of play.
In the second half, Rupinder Pal Singh converted a short corner in the 41st minute while his team-mates Rajpal Singh and V. Raghunath scored one goal each in the 43rd and 62nd minutes to seal the victory at five-nil.
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