Akashdeep Singh and Harmanpreet Singh led India’s 10-0 thrashing over Russia in their first group match in Bhubaneshwar on Thursday to get their 2020 Olympic qualifying campaign off to a commanding start.
Russia had a glorious chance early in the first quarter to take the lead but India shut the door on them with a relentless flow of attacks.
Nilakanta Sharma put India in the lead just before the end of the first quarter. That opened the floodgates for India, who scored their second early in the second quarter.
Birendra Lakra’s powerful run down the left set up India’s second. Simranjit Singh made no mistake with a simple tap-in. Amit Rohidas gave India a 3-0 lead before the end of half-time from a Penalty Corner.
Harmanpreet Singh scored India’s fourth as the hosts once again made no mistake from a dead-ball situation. It sparked a five-goal blitz in the third quarter.
Varun Kumar, Gursahibjit Singh, Akashdeep Singh and Vivek Sagar Prasad found the net. Harmanpreet once against scored from the spot while Akashdeep got his second four minutes before full-time to take India into double figures. Gursahibjit scored his first international goal.
India will play Poland in their second pool match on Friday.