Defending champions India thrashed England 5-1 in the six-nation junior hockey tournament currently underway here.Captain Prabodh Tirkey scored through a penalty corner, while two field goals by Ajitesh and two brilliant penalty corner conversions by Sandeep Singh fashioned India’s thumping win.India were already up by 4-0 at half time.Today’s convincing win comes after yesterday’s unfortunate incident. The clash against Pakistan on Wednesday saw the umpire handing out two yellow cards to the defending champions, which led to India playing with only nine players in the crucial last few minutes and eventual loss 2-3.“Today’s win was most important for us. The boys were all charged up, since they had realised the mistakes they had made in their earlier matches and therefore played as a unified team,” Indian team’s coach Harendra Singh said after the match.Ajitesh, who hasalready impressed the coaches and the selectors with his performance in the inaugural PHL in Hyderabad, displayed both skill and agility when he dived to corner the ball from Adam Sinclair and netted it straight in.His second goal was also a swift dive to the right to get the pass from Hari Prasad and convert it into a winner straight into the goal mouth.“Ajitesh’s goals were fascinating to watch, he expedited beautiful connections and got two excellent goals,” the coach complimented.
