Dilpreet double as India thrash South Korea 8-0 to finish Asian Champions Trophy league unbeaten

India saved their best for last in Jalandhar. Harmanpreet Singh’s side beat South Korea 8-0 on Monday night in their final league game of the men’s Asian Champions Trophy, ending the group stage with five wins from five in front of a full house at the Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium.

Dilpreet Singh scored twice, and seven different players got on the scoresheet. The game was over as a contest inside the first quarter.

Dilpreet opened the scoring in the eighth minute with a reverse hit after Jarmanpreet Singh set him up. Three minutes later Jugraj Singh turned in the rebound when Dilpreet’s shot was saved, and Harmanpreet made it 3-0 with a drag-flick into the corner in the 15th minute.

South Korea had their best spell in the second quarter and won several penalty corners, but goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak kept them all out. It stayed 3-0 at half-time.

India then scored three times in four minutes after the break. Shilanand Lakra pounced on the rebound when Harmanpreet’s penalty corner was blocked in the 33rd minute, Sukhjeet Singh deflected in from close range a minute later, and Sanjay finished another rebound in the 36th after Korean goalkeeper Kim Jaehyon had saved from Dilpreet.

Dilpreet added his second in the 40th minute, and Angadveer Singh struck in the dying seconds to complete the rout. South Korea won one last penalty corner but could not even claim a consolation goal. The Indian players raised their sticks towards the packed stands at the end, their last game at this venue.

The win sends five-time champions India into the knockouts at full strength and full of goals. The draw, though, gives them no new opponent: they meet South Korea again in the semi-final on Wednesday, 4 November, at the Balbir Singh International Hockey Stadium in Mohali, as they chase a sixth title.