India blank South Africa, Belgium battle past Canada
BHUBANESWAR: Hoping to recreate history after 43 years, hosts India started their Hockey World Cup campaign on a rousing note, blanking South Africa 5-0 in their opening Pool ‘C’ match at a packed Kalinga Stadium here on Wednesday.
World number five India are eyeing to reclaim the World Cup after 43 years, a title which they won only once way back in 1975 in Kuala Lumpur.
Simranjeet Singh (43rd, 46th minutes) scored a brace, while Mandeep Singh (10th), Akashdeep Singh (12th) and Lalit Upadhyay (45th) were the other goal getters for India against a South Africa, ranked 10 places below India.
The Indians toyed with the South African defence in the first quarter as they mounted numerous attacks on the opposition goal and to their credit succeeded on two occasions to take a comfortable 2-0 lead early on.
India took the lead when Mandeep scored from a rebound in the 10th minute from the hosts’ first penalty corner and doubled their lead through Akashdeep who scored after the ball fell in front of his stick from a deflection of Simranjit.
The Indians kept up the pressure on South African defence but missed several chances before Simranjeet tapped in after Mandeep dribbled past a few South African defenders to set it up for his strike mate.