INDIA came up with a vastly improved performance when they thrashed China 4- 1 in their second match in the Champions Challenge I hockey tournament in Salta, Argentina on Wednesday.
With this win in Group A, India jointly head the group alongwith New Zealand and have enhanced their chances of a semi- final berth.
India who drew their opening match 2- 2 against New Zealand, were on the attacking mode from the start. They nearly went 1- 0 up in the second minute when Prabhjot Singh’s first timer missed the mark agonizingly. However, he made amends two minutes later when he sounded the boards with a powerful shot.
On the other hand, China could failed to convert any of the two penalty corners they got.
The Indians then slowed down the pace just before the half time to ensure there was no more goals.
On resumption, India scored their second goal in the very first minute. Following a long ball, captain Rajpal Singh found the space and angle to deflect the ball in.
The entire Chinese defence was caught napping. Thereafter, the Chinese strengthened their defence and thwarted many a promising Indian move.
The Chinese also launched many attacks mainly through their forward Yu Liang. In fact, following one such attack by Yu, resulted in a penalty corner as the ball hit an Indian defender. Yi Song made no mistake with a stinging shot.
Stung by this goal, the Indians launched more attacks. But the Chinese defence stood firm. Sarwanjit Singh then broke the ice with a penalty corner conversion in the 56th minute to make it 3- 1 for India. Thereafter, Rajpal missed a golden chance to make it 4- 1 when his shot missed the goal by a whisker. Soon after this, Sardar Singh was given a yellow card and China tried their best to reduced the scoreline. But a resolute Indian defence held out.
Finally, it was Shivendra Singh who put the issue beyond doubt with a powerful first timer. After a day’s rest, India will play Belgium in their final group match on Thursday.