Putting the lingering shadows of an underwhelming World Cup campaign firmly behind them, defending champions India opened their Asian Games title defence with a ruthless 13-1 demolition of Indonesia at Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium in Kakamigahara on Sunday.
Skipper and defender Harmanpreet, who intriguingly spent significant stretches operating as a left forward to manage the flank from defence to the frontline, redeemed an earlier missed stroke by capping off the first-half scoring at 7-0 in the 28th minute. Goalkeeper Fajar also emerged with enormous credit, putting up a resolute defense and pulling off a string of fantastic second-half saves to prevent a repeat of the 17-0 and 16-0 thrashings from previous encounters. But they have started their journey in solid fashion with striker Dilpreet Singh scoring four goals (18th, 19th, 37th, 49th). Shilanand Lakra (6th, 35th) and Sukhjeet Singh (38th, 48th) scored a brace each, with Abhishek (12th), Rajinder Singh (19th), Mandeep Singh (21st), skipper Harmanpreet Singh (28th) and Jugraj Singh (49th) chipping in with a goal each. The script, however, faced a brief disruption in the opening minutes. Ranked 58th in the world, Indonesia refused to sit back, deploying a surprisingly fast, counter-attacking strategy that briefly caught the reigning champions off guard. Not only were they aggressive, they also intercepted Indian passes regularly and tried playing in the Indian half. But normalcy was restored in the sixth minute when Lakra capitalised on a rebound from a Harmanpreet penalty corner (PC) drag-flick, which had been initially blocked by Indonesian goalkeeper Alam Fajar. Forward Abhishek doubled the advantage in the 12th minute, effectively extinguishing the underdogs’ early fire. Once the first quarter concluded, the Indonesian resistance ran out of steam, and the floodgates opened. India punched in five goals in a devastating second quarter. Dilpreet ignited the onslaught with back-to-back strikes in the 18th and 19th minutes. Rajinder immediately added another in the 19th, followed swiftly by Mandeep in the 21st minute. Despite the lopsided scoreline, Indonesia found a silver lining in the second half. In the 33rd minute, skipper Al Ardh executed a flawless drag-flick into the top right corner, beating India goalkeeper Suraj Karkera to register Indonesia’s only goal against the eight Olympic champions. Ultimately, India’s sheer firepower proved overwhelming. Lakra added his second in the 35th minute while Sukhjeet netted a brace with PC specialist Jugraj converting in the 47th.
