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Jakarta, May 26
Rising to the occasion, the Indian men’s hockey team slammed six goals in the final quarter for a crushing 16-0 victory over Indonesia, a result that took them into the knockout stage of the Asia Cup — and also shut the World Cup door on Pakistan.
India needed to win the Pool A contest by at least 15 goals to qualify for the knockout stage of this tournament, and the young players delivered under pressure.
India and Pakistan finished with four points each in Pool A behind Japan (9 points), but defending champions India qualified for the Super 4 stage due to a better goal difference of (+13) than Pakistan (+12). Pakistan had lost 2-3 to Japan earlier in the day.
India’s win over Indonesia not only pushed Pakistan out of this tournament, it also dashed their hopes of qualifying for next year’s World Cup since only the top-three teams in the Asia Cup will make it to the World Cup.
As hosts, India automatically qualify for the World Cup and that is the reason Hockey India sent a young team for the Asia Cup.
Dipsan Tirkey (5 goals) and Sudev Belimagga (3 goals) did half the scoring for India, playing a key role in the crucial win. Veteran SV Sunil, Pawan Rajbhar and Karthi Selvam scored two goals each while Uttam Singh and Nilam Sanjeep Xess were the other goal-getters.
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