India destroy Sri Lanka 20-0

Chennai
September 1, 2007

India 20 Sri Lanka 0

By Sundeep Misra

From the very first minute till the 70th, the Mayor Radhakrishnan stadium resembled a Tsunami of goals. Sri Lanka who came into defend and keep the Indians at bay couldn’t handle the flow that slowly turned into a deluge as India swamped the opposition 20-0 and record their highest tally in an Asia Cup Hockey Championship. India now has six points from two matches. On Friday, they had beaten the Asian Games silver medalist China 1-0.
The 7000 strong crowd that came in was treated to a feast of goals as the Indians ran amok, scoring at will knowing that goal difference could be a strong possibility at the end of the Pool B matches. India still has to play Korea and a defeat could send the top teams – China, Korea and India – into a goal difference decider.
Against an opposition as soft as the Lankans, a few dribbles inside the circle were enough to do the trick. Crosses were hard from both the flanks and the Lankan goalkeeper did well to charge out but the rebounds were usually picked up by Prabhjot Singh who utilized these chances to increase his confidence levels before the Korea game on Monday. Prabhjot scored five, easy pickings of rebounds.
Ignace Tirkey who seemed out of favour after the Azlan Shah Championships also came back strongly with two solid reverse hits that sped in past the Lankan goalkeeper. Ignace seemed fit, strong and ready to take on the challenge against Korea.
Raghunath had failed with crucial penalty corners in India’s 1-0 win over China but today he also used the occasion to indulge in some target practice. His flicks were on target and his second goal could have beaten any goalkeeper in the world.
Rajpal, Tushar, Shivender, Sunil all played their parts in this epic of a score-line. Probably the only one on the field who would have left disgruntled would be Baljit Singh, the Indian goalkeeper, left alone to man the Indian goal.
Indian coach Joaquim Carvalho said that he was happy with the performance. “In such matches, players try and score goals to increase their confidence and I think it must have helped players like Prabhjot Singh and Raghunath.”
Carvalho also praised Ignace. “He is playing well and I think he is getting his rhythm back.”
Indian captain Prabodh Tirkey was also happy with the performance. Sporting a broad smile, he said, “I am happy that we got the goals and the players must be feeling good before the important match against South Korea on Monday.”


Score Sheet:

Dilip Tirkey (2nd, PC) 1-0
Shivender Singh (3rd, FG) 2-0
Tushar Khandekar (6th, FG) 3-0
Prabhjot Singh (10th, PC) 4-0
Prabhjot Singh (14th, FG) 5-0
Tushar Khandekar (23rd, FG) 6-0
Raghunath (28th, PC) 7-0
SV Sunil (30th, FG) 8-0
SV Sunil (34th, FG) 9-0
SV Sunil (35th, FG) 10-0
Tushar Khandekar (37th, FG) 11-0
Prabhjot Singh (38th, FG) 12-0
Prabhjot Singh (47th, PC) 13-0
Prabhjot Singh (49th, FG) 14-0
Ignace Tirkey (57th, FG) 15-0
Raghunath (61st, PS) 16-0
Raghunath (62nd, PC) 17-0
Shivender Singh (63rd, FG) 18-0
Ignace Tirkey (64th, FG) 19-0
Rajpal Singh (69th, FG) 20-0

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