Defending champions India secured a 16-0 one-sided win against Indonesia and advanced to the knockout stage. In this match of Pull A played today i.e. on Thursday, the Indian team dominated Indonesia from the beginning and continued to score goals. India took a 6-0 lead in the first two quarters and then scored the remaining 10 goals in the next two quarters. Deepsan Tirkey scored five goals for India, while Sudev also scored a hat-trick.
Earlier, Pakistan suffered a 2-3 defeat at the hands of Japan, after which as per the rules, India had to register a 15-0 win against Indonesia to reach the next round. India did the same and scored one goal more and won 16-0.
Under the guidance of Sardar Singh, India have fielded a young team in the tournament, in which two stalwarts like Birender Lakra and SV Sunil returned with their decision to retire. However, both these players could not do much in both the matches. India played a 1-1 draw with Pakistan in the first match after losing a goal in the last minute. Japan then defeated India 5-2. At the same time, Pakistan also lost 2-3 at the hands of Japan. India and Pakistan both had four points each, so a 15-0 win was needed to go to the next round on the basis of goal difference from Pakistan and Team India got it.
