Hosts take off with big wins

Indian forwards shone as the hosts made mincemeat of African winners Egypt to start their Afro-Asian Games campaign on a high note at the Ga...

Indian forwards shone as the hosts made mincemeat of African winners Egypt to start their Afro-Asian Games campaign on a high note at the Gacchibowli Stadium here today.

Despite missing the services of few key players including mercurial striker Dhanraj Pillay, a new-look Indian team rode on the perfect showing by their forwards to win their opening tie 5-1.

Pakistan struggle to beat Nigeria

Vijay Tagore
Hyderabad, October 23

Strong contenders South Korea had an excellent start to their campaign recording a convincing 3-0 win over Ghana while formidable Pakistan struggled against bottom-placed Nigeria in the hockey competition of the Afro-Asian Games here on Thursday. Pakistan eventually ended up winning 4-3, but the result could well have been a draw 3-3.

Story continues below this ad

The Koreans were outstanding on the field converting two of the four penalty corners they got. The 3-0 verdict, in the end, was a fair result as the Ghana played some good hockey, displaying excellent coordination and stickwork.

On the other hand, Pakistan were in for a surprise against Nigeria as the African team succeeded in matching every move of the Tahir Zaman’s men. They could score three goals against the Pakistan and were in a position to hold the Asian powerhouse do a draw, but Mohammed Salim Khalid broke the deadlock with an excellent field goal in the 64th minute to clinch the issue for his side.

Significantly, it was India’s first-ever match under lights at home and the hosts celebrated the occasion in style by notching up a big victory. For India, all the goals came through the three forwards – Prabhjot Singh (5th, 56th), Gagan Ajit Singh (44th, 67th) and Deepak Thakur (38th). For Egypt, Mohd Gamal scored the consolation goal in the 50th minute.

Earlier, Indian eves made short work of Ghana to record an emphatic 8-0 win over the African minnows in their opening match. Played under overcast conditions at the newly constructed Gachibowli hockey stadium on the outskirts of the city, India piled on the misery on their lowly opponents pumping in goals at will for the comprehensive win.

Story continues below this ad

Seven Indians were among the goals scored with Surinder Kaur sounding the board twice during the match which saw the vistors struggling to challenge the hosts. Captain Suraj Lata Devi started the scoring spree in the 19th minute as the Indians, leading 3-0 at the break, pumped in five goals in the second with Sanggai Chanu (27), Jasjeet Kaur (30), Annarita Kerketta (50), Adline Kerketta (64) and Sumai Tete (68) netting once each.

In another match today, Jung Eun Kim scored twice as Korea steamrolled a depleted Kenyan side for a 5-0 win.

Jin Ju Kim (4), Yuon Hee Lee (40) and Buyong Ju Sin (51) were the other scorers. India could not have asked for a better start to the tournament since some last minute changes in the schedule saved them from taking on African Games winners South Africa.

Despite the hosts 8-0 win, chief coach MK Kaushik today said he wanted his team to perform even better against South Africa in the next game.

Rahul Gandhi attacks EC: What happened in Aland, who can delete names from electoral roll

Explained15 min ago

Rahul Gandhi accuses Chief Election Commissioner of protecting those attacking Indian democracy. He cites the alleged deletion of 6018 votes in Karnataka's Aland constituency during the 2023 election. EC responds, saying irregularity was caught and complaint filed. BLOs can delete names from electoral roll, but verification process required. Form 7 used, with opportunity for objections.

View all shorts

Live Blog