Mandeep Singh’s strong reverse shot that landed at the right corner of the cage less than thirty seconds before the lemon time set India break the tight Canadian defence and go for goal blitzkrieg in the next half to post an impressive 4-0 win in Lucknow Junior World Cup.

Till Mandeep, who was later declared Man of the Match, broke the Canadian citadel, Indians were having tough time in the rival’s citadel despite hectic efforts, as their defence came prepared to stonewall with all might.

Canadian goalie Iqwinder Singh Gill gave a sterling display in the first half to frustrate India and also twin penalty corner attempts by established Harmanpreet Singh, an Olympian in the side.

However, Harmanpreet Singh pushed the penalty stroke to the right of diving goalie Gill to enhance Indian score(2-0) after his penalty corner shot hit the body of a defender on the goaline in the 46th min.

Young Varun Kumar made it 3-0 off the sixth penalty corner drill. The penalty corner push by Parminder Singh was not stopped properly by Captain Harjeet Singh, leaving it to bounce. However, he managed to control quickly and sent a mild minus to Varun on the edge of the circle line.

Varun Kumar pushed the ball hard, which hit the goalie but bounced into the cage high, the force behind it being the clinching factor.

This was just ten minutes before the hooter.

A minute later, after India miss out another penalty corner, Ajit Kumar Pandey raised his stick enough to guide a high ball into the D to mount further frustration for Canada (4-0).

Canadian citadel that looked formidable in the first half, is now in shamble.

Arman Qureshi, who missed two sitter in the first ten minutes, earned India’s eight penalty corner with deft thrust on the right, but Harmanpreet Singh again faltered.

India, which wasted two penalty corners midway through first half, went for break with mandeep Singh’s opportunistic 1-0 lead.

Same Mandeep shortly later missed a sitter, just swiping his stick in the air without connection off a feed.

Earlier, India faced stiff resistance from Canadians, who packed their defence with all might and succeeded in containing Harmanpreet Singh in the penalty corner drill and then the likes of Arman Qureshi and Parminder Singh without goals.

Two matches each in Pool C and D were held today. While goals reined in Pool D with England overwhelming South Africa 4-2 and Indian show against Canada, the other pool saw conservative results. New Zealand held on to a single goal lead for collecting full points whereas defending champions Germany overcame stiff challenge of Spain 2-1.

Fog conditions continue leading to minor adjustments of schedule. Two matches will be held on 13th, which is otherwise earmarked for Rest Day.