CHENNAI (India), Aug 31: Two-goal Mohammad Imran and Shakeel Abbasi helped Pakistan begin their Asia Cup campaign with a 6-1 thrashing to minnows Hong Kong on Friday.

Although Pakistan scored three goals in each half, coach Islahuddin Siddiqui said they could have done better.

“It’s good to get points in the opening match but we missed many chances, especially off penalty-corners. I wanted to give all the players a chance, including the newcomers. I think the team is on the right track,” he said.

Apart from Imran and Shakeel, Imran Khan and Ihsan Ullah Khan chipped in with one goal apiece.

Arif Ali scored the lone goal for Hong Kong.

Defending champions India overcame stiff resistance from China to post a 1-0 victory.

Dilip Tirkey spared India embarrassment against a fighting Chinese side by converting the seventh penalty-corner in the 46th minute.

India, who lost to China at the Asian Games last year, dominated the first half but failed to translate their superiority into goals, before Tirkey came to the rescue.

“It’s good to earn full points in the opening match. We have also broken a jinx because we often started on a bad note in the past tournaments,” said Indian coach Joaquim Carvalho.

“I think a lot of work has to be done, especially on penalty corners. I am confident we will capitalise on them in coming matches.”

Competitive flavour was missing in other matches, with South Korea thrashing Sri Lanka 12-2, Bangladesh whipping Thailand 13-0, and Malaysia beating Singapore 8-0.

Asian Games winners South Korea ensured an easy win against Sri Lanka with six goals in the first half.

Kim Byung Hoon and Jang Jong Hyun starred in their team’s victory with four goals apiece. Other scorers were Oh Dae Keun, Lee Jae Won, You Hyo Sik and Kang Seong Jung. Sri Lanka scored both of their goals in the second half through M. M. Gazalli.

Earlier, Malaysia celebrated the country’s independence anniversary with an emphatic victory after leading 3-0 at half time.

“Today is our 50th National Day and we’d like to dedicate this victory to all Malaysians. The win was very important and I told players to focus on the match,” said manager Ponniah Tamilselvan.

Zulkifli Rejab, Azlon Misron and Chua Boonhuat scored two goals apiece for Malaysia, while Ismail Abu and Megat Azrafiq each struck once.

Rasel Mahmud was the star of Bangladesh’s biggest win in international hockey with four goals. Mohammad Mamun scored three, followed by Mohammad Zahidul Islam and Mohammad Iqbal Nadir with two apiece.

Mohammad Jahidbin Talib and Khondokar Hasan were the other scorers.

“We expected to win the opening match, but never thought the margin would be so big. Our aim now is to play good hockey against big teams,” said Bangladesh manager Mohammad Yusuf Ali.

Pakistan, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore are in Group A while Group B comprises South Korea, India, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals.—AFP