By IANS
Chennai : India, scoring a solitary goal in a listless first half, were galvanised into action in the second, beating Bangladesh 6-0 in a Pool B match of the BSNL Asia Cup hockey tournament here Tuesday.
The hosts did not allow the Bangladeshis to settle down and chased them to their half all the time – keeping up the pressure so much that the visitors were left gasping for breath.
Playing their fourth Pool B match, the Indians went ahead four minutes before the half time whistle, having miffed at least six scoring chances.
Penalty corner expert Raghunath collected a right flank pass from Shivendra Singh and sent it flying into the Bangladesh goal, making it 1-0.
India could have made 2-0 before the hooter went off, but missed a penalty corner immediately after the4 first goal.
The performance in the first half led to some tough talking from coach Joaquim Carvalho.
After the break, Tushar Kandekar did his bit collecting a pass from the midfield and ramming it home in the 37th minute. The tally read 2-0.
Within the next 55 seconds, the scorers were at it again. This time, it was Shivendra collecting a dribble from the centre and making it 3-0 for India.
It took India another 11 minutes to go past the Bangladeshi defences again, but it was a bit easy because Kandekar weaving through the visitors unexpectedly made a short pass to Prabhjot Singh who sent the ball into the opponents’ goal, making it 4-0.
Eight minutes later, Prabhjot was again in the thick of things, centring a right flank pass and slamming it home. The score: 5-0.
Finally, in the 66th minute, Raghunath lived up to his billing and converted a penalty corner.
The Bangladeshis were left frustrated, facing their first defeat in the tournament.
Indian coach Carvalho expressed complete satisfaction about the progress of his team.
Answering a question, he said, “Virtually any team is welcome to challenge us in the semi-final. I can only say that we are prepared for anyone and have managed to work out a strategy for each opponent in the future.”
In an earlier match of the Pool A, Hong Kong edged past Singapore 3-2.
Singapore went ahead in the 7th minute through Saiful Nizam Bin Mohammad’s conversion of penalty corner.
Hong Kong equalised 11 minutes later through a penalty corner but Singapore overtook again in the 54th minute the same way through Chan Ka Ho’s effort.
But the city state’s joy was short-lived for Hong Kong scored twice in the 60th and 68th minutes.