Striker Mandeep Singh continued his rich form and scored a brace to help India thrash minnows Poland 10-0 in their last league match of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament here Friday. Already assured of a place in Saturday's summit clash against Korea, the Indians scored goals almost at will, leaving the Polish players in daze. Besides Mandeep (50th, 51st minutes), dragflciker Varun Kumar (18th, 25th) also struck twice while Vivek Sagar Prasad (1st), Sumit Kumar (7th), Surender Kumar (19th), Simranjeet Singh (29th), Nilankanta Sharma (36th) and Amit Rohitdas (55th) were the other goal-scorers for India. Five-time champions India, thus, maintained their unbeaten streak in the tournament, collecting 13 points from five league matches with the help of four wins and a draw. With two strikes on Friday, Mandeep became the highest goal-scorer in the tournament with a total of seven goals while Varun took his personal tally to five goals so far. It was expected to be a one-sided contest and it turned out to be so as India raced to a 2-0 lead by the seventh minute through Vivek and Sumit's goals. The second quarter saw India strengthen their attack as they made space inside the striking circle. In good form, Sumit earned a penalty corner for India which was perfectly converted by Varun. A minute later, Surender registered his name in the score sheet by scoring from a penalty corner created by Rohidas. Though India lost forward Shilanand Lakra to a green card in the 24th minute, they secured another penalty corner and Varun was bang on target with a powerful flick to hand his side a commanding 5-0 lead. Simranjeet then added to the team's tally when he worked with Mandeep after receiving a beautiful assist from Nilakanta Sharma to put the ball past Polish goalkeeper Mateusz Popiolkowski. With a formidable 6-0 lead at half-time, India continued to dominate after the change of ends. In the 36th minute, it was Nilakanta's turn to score after receiving a good pass from Sumit. Though India managed only one goal in the third quarter, the team made a strong finish in the fourth quarter and scored three more goals. The Polish goalkeeper, meanwhile, was impressive as he made some brilliant saves to keep Gursahibjit Singh and Simranjeet Singh at bay early in the fourth quarter. A powerfully struck penalty corner by Rohidas too was well-saved by Popiolkowski. India's eighth and ninth goal came off skilful displays by Mandeep. His first goal was scored after he intercepted Michal Raciniewski to take a direct shot on goal, while his second was well-assisted by Gurinder Singh. India's 10th goal was scored after Surender earned a penalty corner with Amit making a good conversion.<doc-sep>India ended the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup league stage with a resounding 10-0 win over lowly Poland in their final league match at Ipoh, Malaysia on Friday. It was a great start to the Indian team as Vivek Prasad scored the opener in the very first minute itself. India continued to dominate the Poland defense and put consistent pressure on them. In the 7th minute, Sumit Kumar scored India’s second with a brilliant field goal. At the end of the first quarter, India led 2-0. Both Varun Kumar and Surender Kumar scored one goal each from penalty corners in the 18th and 19th minute to take a 4-0 lead. Their domination over Poland continued with attacking play. Varun Kumar scored from another penalty corner in the 25th minute to further the lead. In the 29th minute, Simranjeet Singh added to India’s tally, heading towards the break with a comfortable 6-0 lead. One minute into the third quarter, Nilakanta Sharma scored a field goal to continue India’s domination. Poland tried their best to enter India’s circle but failed to have any impact. At the end of the 3rd quarter, India had their commanding 7-0 lead still intact. In the fourth quarter, India continued their attacking approach and continued pressuring Poland's defense. Mandeep Singh scored two goals in the 50th and 51th minute to increase their lead to 9-0. In the 55th minute, Amit Rohidas converted the penalty corner into a goal to make it 10-0. It was a brilliant performance by the Indian team before the finals is to be played against South Korea tomorrow. India ended the league stage at the top of the table with 13 points and a GD of +18. India's and South Korea's league match ended in a 1-1 draw. Thus, they will be looking to make full use of the momentum gained heading into the finals.<doc-sep>There were moments of India's old classical style of hockey in the runs of Sumit Kumar. The other Sumit, who comes without a surname, did cause confusion among scorers and journalists alike but it was his display that showed the spine against Malaysia Stoicism as a virtue is a rare element of Indian hockey teams. Burdened with the thought of over-playing or even hurrying through the process of building up to get that all-important goal, India, on Tuesday, showed calmness, restraint and a certain dispassion in dispatching off hosts Malaysia 4-2 in their 3rd match of the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament. The victory was sweet, passionate and lent itself to the elements of youth so thoroughly embodied by Hardik Singh as central midfielder and Sumit Kumar as forward and winger. There were moments of the old classical hockey in the runs of Sumit Kumar. The other Sumit, who comes without a surname, did cause confusion among scorers and journalists alike but it was his display that showed the spine against Malaysia. In the defence, Birendra Lakra raised his level, thwarting attacks, moving the ball upfront and providing that tranquillity at the back, thanks to which the forwards played with abandon. India scored through Sumit (17th), Sumit Kumar (27th), Varun Kumar (36th) and Mandeep Singh (58th). The scorers for Malaysia were Razie Rahim (27th) and Firhan Ashari (57th). Malaysian coach, the former Indian chief coach, was disappointed with the result. “I felt the match was quite close and both the teams missed close ones. Things could have been different if we had held our chances and the same could be said of India. I and my players know that India can punish if there is space. In the end, the 4th goal was because we were not alert.” Indian coach David John was relieved that the younger lot especially, Sumit Kumar scored, saying, “they expressed themselves and I am happy that the young boys played well under pressure. It’s not easy to play the hosts but I think we held our own and remained calm under pressure.” Malaysia has been a thorn in the Indian side. This was the 121st match between both the teams. India won its 84th victory with 20 drawn and 17 lost. Of those 17 lost, more than a handful have been in important matches, the last of which was the Asian Games semi-final. It would be childish to term these as revenge matches but the win would surely bring relief. Before the Asian Games match, India had lost another crucial game against Malaysia in the 2017 Hockey World League semi-final stage in London. Those moments hurt Indian hockey and led to the resignation of Roelant Oltmans as chief coach. Both teams play a similar style with opening the flanks and exercising control in the midfield. Defensive formations are rarely seen when both match-up. India needed a victory after the 1-1 draw against Korea to keep its ambitions of playing the final. The start was tentative. Malaysia was the fluent team, switching its players with ease and keeping the Indian defence under pressure. The few Indian moves that came couldn’t be completed as the finish was erratic. Simranjeet Singh was causing trouble in the Malaysian striking circle as the first quarter ended on an even note. By the second quarter, Hardik gained control of the midfield. His below-par performances in the first two matches probably pushed him to stamp his class and he did it with authority. Taking charge, he slid the ball both ways, the left and right flank moving with fluency under Mandeep and Sumit Kumar. Two minutes into the 2nd quarter, Hardik from just outside the striking circle, slipped the ball in for Sumit who more with a reflex action deflected the ball that evaded Malaysian goalkeeper Hairi Rahman and slipped into goal. India led 1-0. Then came five consecutive PCs for India. Either an alert Hairi saved or the flicks lacked venom. By now the flow was both ways. Malaysia was hunting and at the same time didn’t want to bring on players from the defence. They were quite aware of the counter-attacking capability of the Indians. In that sense, their attack was slightly blunted. They too had three consecutive PCs and off the third Razie’s flick hit Sreejesh on the glove and went in. Malaysia had the equaliser and were back in the match. It was at this stage that Sumantri had Sreejesh at his mercy but he slipped while taking the shot. Luck was on India’s side. India reversed the tide as Hardik and Manpreet once again gained ascendancy. Off a move that started on the left flank, Manpreet slipped past two Malaysians, gave it to Mandeep whose tap found Sumit and the final pass was shot in by Sumit Kumar. More than the goal, the smoothness of the move rocked Malaysia. They realised India had control. Three PCs came in the 3rd quarter which took the total to 8 and off the last Varun Kumar finally scored as his flick went through the legs of Faiz Jali, standing on the goal-line. India was 3-1 ahead and promised more. Three PCs went Malaysia’s way with Pathak in the Indian goal saving a couple. India was without a referral at this stage having called for one earlier which turned out to be a wrong call. The forward line of Mandeep, Shilanand Lakra, Sumit Kumar, Simranjeet was running the Malaysian defence ragged. Even if the goals weren’t coming, Malaysia was pinned to their own half, striking circle, sometimes for minutes. In the midfield, Hardik reigned supreme. The 4th quarter saw the match open up. Since the 4 quarters were introduced, slowly it has been seen that in the 4th, teams usually start attacking. The ones with the lead defend, hoping to play out time. However, both Malaysia and India were more adventurous. The flow was of the game was unabetted. With three minutes 20 seconds left in the match, a Malaysian attack saw the ball loop up into the Indian striking circle. Firhan Ashari tried to hook it into the Indian goal. The ball, however, travelled sideways, deflected off Gurinder’s stick and went into goal. At 2-3, possibilities arose of an equaliser. There was enough time to pressure the Indian defence and even win a few PCs. Two minutes remained when the ball was sent to the right flank for Sumit Kumar. The youngster picked it up, twirled around the Malaysian player and set off on a run that would have made a sprinter proud. The Malaysians chased. Inches away from the touchline, Sumit Kumar cut the ball into the middle of the circle where Mandeep’s stick slashed at it to send it into the Malaysian goal. Malaysian shoulders dropped. They knew the match was beyond them as India held the ball for a minute to run down the clock. Indian captain Manpreet Singh who had a good outing himself praised the energy levels of the boys. “We knew it was tough to play in front of the Malaysian home crowd. But we were calm. Now we look forward to playing Canada with the same energy.” David wasn’t too perturbed with just one conversion off nine PCs. “Look, it’s a work in progress. We run the lines. Oltmans knows Varun Kumar and Amit Rohidas well. We will improve.” India have Canada and Poland to play and a full six points to achieve which would easily give them a place in the final. Eighteen circle entries against Malaysia showed a fearless, attacking talent. Fifteen shots on goal made them combative and aggressive. It is this zestful and vivacious display against Malaysia and hopefully deeper into the tournament that would make them such a joy to watch.<doc-sep>
Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2019: India consolidated their top spot on the six-team table after thrashing Canada on Wednesday (@TheHockeyIndia Photo) Striker Mandeep Singh scored a brilliant hat-trick as India outplayed Canada 7-3 in a goal fest to set one foot on the summit clash of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament here on Wednesday. The 24-year-old Mandeep fired in three quick field goals (20th, 27th and 29th minutes), all of them coming in the second quarter, after Varun Kumar had given India the lead in the 12th minute of the high-scoring match. At the half time, India were 4-0 up in the match before Canada reduced the margin through a strike from Mark Pearson in the 35th minute. Amit Rohidas (39th), Vivek Prasad (55th) and Nilakanta Sharma (58th) struck later to take the game beyond the reach of the Canadians who scored two late goals through Fin Boothroyd (50th) and James Wallace (57th). FT: 3-7 Yet again, an all-round India managed to put up a sensational performance in the goal fest against Canada.#IndiaKaGame #SultanAzlanShahCup2019 pic.twitter.com/bBNV4AEGwb Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) March 27, 2019 With the win, India continued their unbeaten run in the tournament, with three wins and a draw to top the round-robin league table with 10 points. They play their final league match against Poland on Friday. India showed progress match-by-match in the tournament with improved structure and discipline as they took on an unpredictable Canadian side. India had beaten Canada 5-1 in the group stage at the 2018 World Cup in Bhubaneswar. India made an attacking start that put the opponents on the back-foot early in the match. A quick circle entry by Sumit Kumar Jr resulted to India winning a penalty corner in the 12th minute which was converted by Varun Kumar, scoring his third goal of the tournament. India built on the momentum in the second quarter and made several circle entries. Sumit Kumar Jr once again created an opportunity when he sent a fine pass to Mandeep who simply had to deflect the ball into the goal, taking India's lead to 2-0. In the following minute, Surender Kumar created a penalty corner for India but an alert Canadian goalkeeper made a good save off Amit Rohidas' flick. India earned two more penalty corners in the following minutes but failed to convert them. Canada earned their first penalty corner in the 26th minute, but drag-flicker Gordon Johnston sent the ball wide. Continuing to use full-press to their advantage, India held their sway. Midfielder Kothajit Singh dispossessed a Canadian player to make a brilliant assist to Mandeep from the 25m mark. Mandeep made no mistake in sending it past Canada goalkeeper Antoni Kindler. Mandeep then combined with Sumit before scoring his third goal of the day and complete his hat-trick in the 29th minute as India were 4-0 at half-time. India continued to control the game with good ball possession and gave few opportunities for Canada to make a comeback. However, an infringement by an Indian defender gave away Canada's second penalty corner in the 35th minute. Mark Pearson ensured the opportunity was not lost as he put the ball past India goalkeeper Krishan Pathak with a powerful flick. The Canadian goal did not deter the Indians as they powered through with speed and finesse in their attack. Amit Rohidas' goal in the 39th minute helped India take a 5-1 lead going into the final quarter which saw a goal-fest with both teams scoring two goals each. Though Canada narrowed down the lead to 2-5 in the 50th minute, an excellent long-aerial ball by Varun Kumar to Mandeep in the circle helped him assist Vivek Sagar Prasad score a fine field goal to take India's lead to 6-2. Nilakanta Sharma finished the game for India on a fine note as he converted a good assist from Hardik Sigh in the 58th minute, which was a fitting reply to Canada's previous goal through a penalty corner in the 57th minute through James Wallace. Mandeep was awarded the man-of-the-match for his fine hat-trick. Also See: