A sixy show!

India players celebrate after scoring a goal against Japan in Dhaka yesterday. Pic/AFP

Defending champions India crushed Japan 6-0 to remain unbeaten in the round-robin stage of the Asian Champions Trophy men's hockey tournament here on Sunday.
Harmanpreet Singh (10th and 53rd minute) scored a brace, while Dilpreet Singh (23rd), Jaramnpreet Singh (34th), Sumit (46th) and Shamsher Singh (54th) also registered their names on the scoresheet for India at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium.

Third win on the trot

India, who have already sealed a semi-final berth, ended the round-robin stage of the five-nation tournament at the top of the standings with 10 points, ahead of Korea (6), Japan (5), Pakistan (2) and hosts Bangladesh (0). This was India's third win on the trot. Held to a draw by Korea in their lung-opener, the Manpreet Singh-led side turned things around defeating Bangladesh 9-0, while also getting the better of arch-rivals Pakistan before easily overcoming the Japanese challenge.

Dominant performance

India's semi-final opponent was yet to be decided. The dominant victory will be a huge boost for India as they head into the business end of the tournament full of confidence. They completely outperformed Japan, the Asian Games gold medallists, in all departments.

India dominated the first half. They earned two back-to-back penalty corners within the first six minutes of the the first quarter but were unable to convert either. Soon after Japan also wasted a penalty corner as their striker fired the shot wide.

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