Hero Asia Cup 2022: Indian team did the unthinkable in Hero Asia Cup match against Indonesia

 Needed to win by 15-0 to go past Pakistan, the Indian Men’s Hockey Team did the impossible by thrashing Indonesia with a big margin played at GBK Sports Complex, Jakarta on Thursday.

Right from the word, the Indian team maintained the possession putting enough pressure on the Indonesian defense. Pawan Rajbhar scored a brilliant field goal in the 11^th minute giving India a 1-0 lead. India earned their first penalty corner which was converted by Pawan from the third rebound shot in the 12^th minute to double the lead for India. Indonesia earned their first circle penetration, but the Indian defense cleared it off. Uttam Singh scored from a brilliant field goal in the 14^th minute giving India a 3-0 lead. At the end of the first quarter, India led 3-0.

The second quarter began well for Indonesia, but the Indian attack continued with brilliant shots. A superb goal by SV Sunil via a penalty corner in the 18^th minute gave India a 4-0 lead. Nilam Sanjeep scored from a brilliant PC in the 19^th minute giving India a commanding 5-0 lead. Indian team-maintained circle penetrations with 15 as compared to 1 by Indonesia. SV Sunil scored a brilliant field goal in the 24^th minute giving India a 6-0 lead. Indonesia was down to 10 men with Revo awarded a green card. India put enough pressure on the Indonesian defense but could not yield goals. At the end of the first half, India led 6-0.

Indian team continued their aggression in the 3^rd quarter as Uttam missed a good shot going wide. Manider Singh was awarded a green card meaning India was down to 10 men. A brilliant run by Indian forwards as Kerthi Selvam scored a simple field goal in the 40^th minute giving India a 7-0 lead. Dipsan Tirkey scored from a brilliant penalty corner in the 41^st minute giving India dominating lead. Indonesia struggled as Muhmmad Fadii, Astri were awarded yellow cards. Tirkey scored from a penalty stroke giving India a 9-0 lead. Abharan Sudev scored a brilliant field goal in the 45^th minute to take one step to qualify for the Super 4 stage. At the end of the third quarter, India led 10-0.

The fourth quarter saw the Indian maintaining the momentum with as Abharan Sudev scored a field goal in the 46^th minute to give India an 11-0 lead. Indian team kept the pressure on the Indonesian defense with multiple penalty corners. Tirkey and Sudev scored from two more penalty corners in the 47^th and 55^th minute taking India’s lead to 13-0.

It was a superb performance by the Indian team that kept piling pressure on the Indonesian defense. Karthi Selvam scored a field goal in the 56^th minute to give them a chance of qualifying for the Super 4 stage. Dispan Tirkey made life tough for Indonesia’s defense with 2 more penalty corner goals in the 59^th minute helping India qualify along with Japan.

The Indian men’s team had 12 debutants in the Hero Asia Cup 2022. They started their tournament with a 1-1 draw against arch-rivals Pakistan and then followed by a 2-5 defeat to Japan.

They will first Japan in the Super 4 stage on 28^th May, followed by Malaysia on 29^th, and then followed by South Korea on 31^st May 2022. The top two teams will qualify for the finals.

From Group B, Malaysia finished at the number 1 spot with 9 points and then South Korea with 6 points. Japan finished at number with 9 points while India due to a better goal difference than Pakistan, finished 2^nd.

 

 

 

India thrash Indonesia by 16-0 to qualify for the Super 4 stage of Hero Asia Cup 2022