Chennai (TIP)- Drag-flickers Harmanpreet Singh and Varun Kumar scored a brace each as India began their campaign at the Asian Champions Trophy with a 7-2 win against China here on August 3.
Seven of the goals in the game came from penalty corners, with world No. 4 India converting six of their nine and China finishing one of four.
Apart from skipper Harmanpreet (5th and 8th minutes) and Varun (19th and 30th), the other scorers for India were Sukhjeet Singh (15th), Akashdeep Singh (16th) and Mandeep Singh (40th). Interestingly, all the scorers for the hosts hail from Punjab. E Wenhui (18th) and Gao Jiesheng (25th) scored for world No. 25 China.
The big win took three-time champions India to the top of the table, with Malaysia and South Korea second and third, respectively.
Earlier, Firhan Ashari struck twice as Malaysia defeated Pakistan 3-1. 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 match of this edition saw defending champions South Korea beat Japan 2-1 in a close contest.
It all began in the sixth minute when Ryoma Oooka netted the opening goal of the tournament before Cheoleon Park equalised in the 26th, as both the teams went into the halftime break locked at 1-1. Just five minutes into the third quarter, JungHoo Kim put the Korean side in front. Source: Agencies
Harmanpreet, Varun score braces as India hammer China 7-2 in opener
