City
Epaper

India men seal Olympics berth with 7-1 drubbing of Russia

By IANS | Updated: November 2, 2019 22:40 IST

The Indian men's hockey team on Saturday qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a 7-1 drubbing of 22nd ranked Russia in the second leg of their Olympic qualifiers here.

Open in App

World No. 5 India came into the match with a 4-2 lead in the first leg, which meant that the aggregate score at the end of the match was 11-3 in their favour.

The hosts were given an early scare with Russia scoring within the first 25 seconds of the match. Alexey Sobolevskiy scored after Russia charged at an unprepared Indian defence.

It looked like the match might follow a similar script to that of the women's qualifier earlier in the night, in which India squandered a 5-1 first leg lead and had to depend on skipper Rani Rampal's late strike to pull off a 6-5 aggregate win over a resurgent USA to seal their place in the Olympics.

But the Indian men maintained their composure and slowly but surely started asserting themselves against their opponents, who were the lowest ranked team in the draw for the Olympic qualifiers.

However, it was a jittery first quarter for the hosts. They dominated possession but couldn't get too many shots at goal. They had one penalty corner in the first quarter which came to nothing. The first quarter ended with India holding a slender one-goal lead on aggregate.

Two minutes into the second quarter, Lalit Upadhyay managed to get his stick on Hardik Singh's shot to double India's aggregate lead. Akashdeep Singh then scored twice in the 23rd and 29th minute to put clear daylight between his side and the Russ.

At half time, India led 3-1, taking the aggregate score to 7-3.

Russia then pulled up their socks to ensure that they didn't concede any more goal in the third quarter. They also created a good chance, but the final shot was woefully off target. But by the end of the quarter, the Russ cut a tired figure and finally buckled in the fourth quarter.

Nilakanta Sharma, Amit Rohidas and Rupinder Singh (2) found the back of the net in the final quarter as India pumped in four goals past Russia to seal an emphatic victory.

( With inputs from IANS )

Tags: indiaRussRussiaRani Rampal
Open in App

Related Stories

MumbaiMumbai: Gold Sales Cross ₹12,000 Crores Nationwide on Akshaya Tritiya; Mumbai MMR Sees ₹800 Crores Trade

NationalAkshaya Tritiya 2025: Gold Market Sees Huge Footfall Despite Price Hike (Watch Video)

InternationalRussia-Ukraine War: At Least 600 North Korean Soldiers Killed While Fighting for Russia

MaharashtraOver 10,000 Pakistani Nationals Traced in Maharashtra and Delhi Post-Palgham Terror Attack

MumbaiViral Sighting of Tesla Cybertruck Near Mumbai Stirs EV Enthusiasm (Photos)

हॉकी Realted Stories

HockeyIndian Women's Hockey Team ends tour on a high with 1-0 win against Australia

HockeyIndia women's hockey team goes down 2-3 against Australia in nerve-biting thriller

HockeyIndian Women's Hockey Team looking to end Australia Tour on high

HockeyHockey India announces 40-member core probable group for Senior National coaching camp

HockeyIndian women's hockey team falls 0-2 to Australia