India drub Thailand 16-0 in Asia Cup

On a day when goals were available for the asking, India routed a hapless Thailand 16-0 in a completely one-sided match of the BSNL Asia Cup hockey tournament at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here Thursday.

The tally was 10-0 at the lemon break. India are already in the semi-finals, where they will meet Japan.

India's penalty corner specialist Raghunath lived up to his billing but narrowly missed adding a double hat-trick to his conversions as he drag-shot all the first five goals in the second, seventh, 13th, 18th and 26th minutes. His sixth goal, however, came in similar fashion in the 56th minute.

Reserve Thai goalkeeper Rachan Suwanmanee standing in for S. Nuknin was a totally harassed man as the ball flew in from both flanks.

Thailand didn't do a single thing right, including the saves, because a number of them either missed the defenders or simply crossed the edge on the far side.

India's other main scorers were Tushar Kandeker and Rajpal Singh, who netted braces.

The one goal that took everyone's breath away was a beauty from Rajpal Singh. He took a pass from the midfield, swivelled on his toes and struck the ball in one swift movement at an acute angle of less than 20 degrees.

After the match, Indian coach Joaquim Carvalho said that neither he nor his team were willing to rest on their laurels.

"Now we have to plan for the semi-finals. But we know that Japan is a difficult team to beat on its day. We will practice hard and iron out whatever small wrinkles there are in our team," he maintained.

The coach had special praise for Raghunath.

"If anyone has any more doubts about this boy, please refer to his personal tally. What is more, he is trying a few new things today and all of them came good," he said

Asked about the Thais' comparative weakness, Carvalho retorted: "Strong or weak opponents, a win is a win!"

Article Source: http://www.share.onlypunjab.com

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