The Indian men’s hockey team got their second straight win at the Hockey World League Semi-Finals stage in London as they swept aside Canada 3-0 in their second group stage match.
Canada had thrashed Pakistan 6-0 earlier and India had dispatched of Scotland 4-0 so this may have been expected to be a tight encounter but three first half goals from SV Sunil, Akashdeep Singh and Sardar Singh meant that it was anything but close as it proved to be quite a stroll for the men in Blue.
India got their first penalty corner as early as the fifth minute as SV Sunil’s darting run down the right channel meant that Harmanpreet Singh had a shot on goal but he sent it over the bar.
They would open their account soon as it was Sunil again who crossed the ball for a striker but it came off the Canadian Balraj Panesar to give India the lead.
The second goal arrived five minutes later as Ramandeep Singh’s flick towards goal was intercepted by Akashdeep who flicked it past the onrushing goalkeeper to double India’s advantage.
The third quarter started with Canada giving the ball away near the middle of the park, where Ramandeep grabbed it and ran towards the edge of the box where his pass to Sardar was finished off with a tap-in. India led 3-0 at half-time.
Canada had their first penalty corner of the match in the third quarter but Vikas Dahiya made himself big and saved a certain goal. The match finished with little further incident as India head into tomorrow’s group stage match against Pakistan, full of confidence.
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