The Indian men's hockey team defeated Sri Lanka by a massive 16-1 margin in the Asian Games 2026 Pool-A match, securing the top spot in the table.
Indian players dominated from the start in this match played at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium in Kakamigahara. With this big win, the Indian team has now reached the first position in the Pool-A points table.
Thanks to this brilliant performance, the Indian team has left behind strong teams like South Korea and Japan. This aggressive play of the team has given a stern warning to the rivals for the upcoming matches.
The star player of the match was Jugraj Singh, who scored a maximum of 4 goals, completely destroying the Sri Lankan defense. Apart from him, Abhishek and Dilpreet Singh also scored 3-3 goals showing excellent coordination.
The Indian team adopted an aggressive approach from the beginning of the first quarter and put pressure on Sri Lanka. Mandeep Singh had given the team the lead by scoring India's first goal in the 5th minute of the game.
In the second quarter too, the Sri Lankan team looked helpless in front of the Indian forward line. Abhishek scored his second goal in the 17th minute, while Jugraj also completed his second goal in the 22th minute.
Just before the half-time whistle, Sukhjeet Singh scored a goal in the 29th minute. Immediately after this, in the 30th minute, Dilpreet Singh scored a goal to take India's lead to 8-0.
In the third quarter, the Indian team added five more goals to end all possibilities of a Sri Lankan comeback. Manpreet scored in the 31st minute to make the score 9-0.
Vivek Sagar Prasad scored a goal in the 36th minute showing his technique. After this, Dilpreet Singh scored his second goal of the match in the 38th minute.
In the 42nd minute of the match, Jugraj Singh completed his hat-trick by scoring another goal. Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored his second goal in the final minutes of the third quarter, making the score 13-0.
In the last quarter, Sri Lanka tried to make some counter-attacks. However, in the 49th minute, Abhishek completed his hat-trick, giving India a 14-0 lead.
The only goal of the match for Sri Lanka came in the 50th minute. Suresh Ratnayake opened his team's account by dodging the Indian defense.
After this, Jugraj Singh scored his fourth goal of the match in the 53rd minute. Finally, Dilpreet Singh scored his third goal in the 55th minute to ensure India's victory with a score of 16-1.
बलजीत सिंह शेखावत
