India vs Korea (Photo by Hockey India)
Captain Harmanpreet Singh made it 3-0 in the 15th minute with a powerful drag-flick from a penalty corner. Dilpreet completed his brace in the 40th minute with a deflection off Sanjay’s strike, taking India’s lead to 7-0. India returned from the half-time break with renewed energy. Shilanand Lakra scored in the 33rd minute from a rebound, followed by Sukhjeet Singh’s field goal a minute later. Sanjay added another in the 36th minute after a well-worked attacking move. Angad Bir Singh then put the finishing touches on the performance with a reverse-hit field goal in the 60th minute.
Five-time champions India produced a dominant performance to thrash South Korea 8-0 in their final round-robin match of the Asian Champions Trophy on Monday. The win extended India’s unbeaten run in the tournament and helped them finish at the top of the standings with a perfect 15 points from five matches. India had already beaten Bangladesh 13-0, China 5-2, Japan 4-1 and Malaysia 4-2 before completing their league-stage campaign with another convincing victory.
Japan and Malaysia will meet in the other semifinal. Dilpreet Singh scored twice, while Jugraj Singh, Harmanpreet Singh , Shilanand Lakra, Sukhjeet Singh, Sanjay and Angad Bir Singh scored once each. They will now travel to Mohali for the semifinals, where they will face South Korea on Wednesday.