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India opened the defence of their Hero Men’s Asian Champions Trophy title with a 13-0 win over Bangladesh in Jalandhar. Local hero Mandeep Singh scored a hat-trick, while captain Harmanpreet Singh, vice-captain Hardik Singh and Dilpreet Singh each scored twice. India converted 13 of their 18 shots on target.
Jalandhar, India: The home crowd barely had time to settle. A little over a minute into the first match of the Hero Asian Champions Trophy, India were ahead, and Bangladesh never recovered. By the end of a one-sided evening at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium, India had won 13-0, the perfect start to their bid for a third straight title.
The match began late. It was pushed back to 7:20 PM IST after an opening ceremony headlined by Punjabi singer Ninja, and spectators had free entry. Five players in India’s squad first learned the game on this ground, and the atmosphere lived up to the occasion.
Harmanpreet Opens the Floodgates
India’s captain did the first damage. Harmanpreet Singh converted the match’s first penalty corner within two minutes, sending a drag-flick down the line with the help of a deflection. Before Bangladesh could regroup, Mandeep doubled the lead in the fourth minute. Harmanpreet’s through ball found him unmarked, and he turned and shot calmly into the net.
The third goal was the best of the early lot. Harmanpreet launched a long aerial pass to Abhishek, who controlled it on the run, dribbled past defenders into the circle, and set up an unmarked Mandeep for a tap-in to complete his brace in the 10th minute.
A Rampant First Half
The first quarter ended with a flourish. Aditya Lalage and Sukhjeet Singh broke from the centre in a two-on-one, Lalage chipped the goalkeeper and Shilanand Lakra tapped in at the far post in the 15th minute, making it 4-0.
The second quarter began just as well. Mandeep and Abhishek exchanged a quick one-two, and Abhishek scored from right in front of goal in the 18th minute. Eight minutes later Abhishek set up Nilakanta Sharma on the edge of the circle, and Nilakanta finished with a reverse shot between the goalkeeper’s legs. That made it 6-0 in the 26th minute.
The Goals Keep Coming
Bangladesh, ranked 27th in the world against India’s eighth, had no answer. India led 8-0 by the 45th minute and 10-0 by the 55th. They saved three more for the final stretch, with the last one coming off a slick combination between Mandeep and Hardik. In all, Dilpreet and Hardik scored twice each, Mandeep completed his hat-trick, Harmanpreet added a second, and Jugraj Singh also scored.
India’s finishing was ruthless. They put 18 shots on target and scored from 13 of them.
Context: A Rebuilt Field and a Rested Skipper
The match came with some backdrop. Pakistan withdrew from the tournament after asking for their matches to be moved to a neutral venue on security grounds, a request Hockey India and the Asian Hockey Federation turned down, and Bangladesh came in as a late replacement. India also had to do without Manpreet Singh, who is the only player to have appeared in every edition of the event. He was ruled out with a calf injury picked up in training, and Vivek Sagar Prasad took his place.
This result also continues India’s strong run against Bangladesh. The two sides met last month in the Asian Games pool stage, where India won 10-0 in the rain on their way to defending their gold medal.
Looking Ahead
India are chasing a record-extending sixth Asian Champions Trophy, having won in 2011, 2016, 2018 (shared with Pakistan), 2023 and 2024. They now play China on Thursday, October 29, then Japan, Malaysia and South Korea in the round-robin stage. The final is on November 5 in Mohali.
Score: India 13-0 Bangladesh (Harmanpreet Singh 2, Mandeep Singh 3, Hardik Singh 2, Dilpreet Singh 2, Shilanand Lakra, Abhishek Nain, Nilakanta Sharma, Jugraj Singh)
Venue: Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium, Jalandhar
