Skipper Harmanpreet Singh and Varun Kumar scored two goals each as India thrashed China 7-2 to begin their Asian Champions Trophy hockey campaign on a winning note at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Chennai on Thursday.
Harmanpreet (5th, 8th minutes) and Varun (19th, 30th) converted two penalty corners each for India, while Sukhjeet Singh (15th), Akashdeep Singh (16th) and Mandeep Singh (40th) were the other goal scorers.
China's two goals came from the sticks of Wenhui E (18th) and Jiesheng Gao (25th).
The Men in Blue were off to a resounding start in the opening quarter, as it took them just five minutes into the contest to earn a penalty corner, and skipper Harmanpreet made no mistake in successfully converting it.
It did not too long for India to double the lead.
Three minutes later, it was another penalty corner and it yielded the same result through the same man, Harmanpreet.
Down by a couple of goals early into the tie, the Chinese players struggled to penetrate the Indian defence, as most of the action was taking place in the Chinese half.
At the stroke of the first quarter stoppage, India received another penalty corner. Varun's initial flick was saved by the Chinese defence but Sukhjeet scored from the rebound.
With a 3-0 lead, India started the second quarter on on a confident note.
Just two minutes into the quarter, Akshdeep scored from an assist from Manpreet Singh as India went 4-0 up.
However, just a minute later, China broke free, with Varun failing to tackle an ariel ball, as Wenhui sent it past Indian goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak.
But the Chinese goal hardly had any impact as a minute later, Varun found the back of the net from a set piece.
It was not until the 25th minute that China received their first penalty corner.
While the initial one was unsuccessful, the resulting corner led to Gao firing it past Pathak.
At the stroke of half-time, it was yet another penalty corner for India, with Varun shooting it into the top-right corner, as the hosts moved into the break with a 6-2 advantage.
After the change of ends, things did not change for China.
Although China tried to up the ante, they gave away a couple of corners again, and the one in the 40th minute saw Amit Rohidas's wide flick being angled in by Mandeep Singh for India's seventh goal.
While the third quarter was a relatively quiet one, the final quarter was even quieter, as despite the two sides earning a few penalty corners, none could put the ball into the net.
India will play Japan next on Friday.
Ashari's twin strike hands Malaysia 3-1 win over Pakistan
Firhan Ashari struck twice as Malaysia defeated Pakistan 3-1 in the second game of the 2023 Asian Champions Trophy Hockey at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium.
For Malaysia, Ashari scored in the 28th and 29th minutes, while Shello Silverius found the net in the 44th minute.
Pakistan's lone goal was scored by Abdul Rehman in the 55th minute.
The opening quarter was an engaging one, as both the sides came up with a decent number of scoring chances, including a penalty corner each, but failed to convert.
In the following quarter, the match once again witnessed some decent scoring chances from both the teams, including an unsuccessful penalty corner conversion from Malaysia.
However, Malaysia struck on consecutive occasions just two minutes before half-time.
Ashari scored a quick brace in an acrobatic fashion through field strikes to put his side in the driver's seat as the teams headed into the half-way break.
After the restart, Pakistan continued to find ways to penetrate and score, coming close on some occasions but failed to find the back of the net.
Also, the physical gameplay from both the sides made things difficult for the Men in Green, resulting in several injury stoppages.
Nevertheless, a minute before the third quarter ended, Malaysia tripled their lead, as Silverius comfortably tapped the ball in past Pakistan goalkeeper Akmal Hussain.
Faisal Saari beautifully created the scoring chance for Malaysia as he seamlessly ran with the ball all alone from the right flank despite a Pakistani defender chasing, before beautifully passing it to an unmarked Silveius, who completed the formality.
As the final quarter went underway, Pakistan earned a penalty stroke in the 53rd minute. However, Abdul Rana's effort was denied by the Malaysian goalkeeper Muhajir Abdu, who moved to his right to make the save.
The Men in Green eventually got a consolation goal in the 55Rehman scoring from a field effort.
