India thrashed Singapore 15-1 to mark a grand opening to their campaign in the men's hockey Olympic Qualification tournament in New Delhi on Saturday.The 41st ranked Singaporeans, who came in as a late replacement for the United States and comprise mostly university students with little experience in international hockey, were no match for the eight-time Olympic champions India as they home team scored goals at will at the floodlit Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.It was a rare exhibition of goal-scoring prowess from the Indians, ranked 10th in the world and top seeded in the tournament, as they found the opposition net six times in the first half and nine times after the change of ends.For India, Gurvinder Singh Chandi scored three, Shivendra Singh, S V Sunil and Danish Mujtaba scored two each, while Sardar Singh, Tushar Khandker, Sandeep Singh, S K Uthappa ,Yuvraj Walmiki and Birendra Lakra found the net once.Elifh Enrico Marican was the lone goal scorer for Singapore.Inspite of the massive win, penalty corner conversion remains a major concern for India as the hosts managed to convert just one through Sandeep from the six they earned against Singapore on Saturday.
News On AIR | February 18, 2012 10:42 PM
Men's hockey Olympic Qualification: India thrashes Singapore