Prabhjot slams six as India massacre Iran

Once India got started, there was just no stopping them, especially young Prabhjot Singh, who bagged a double hat-trick. Len Ayappa, Bikramjit Singh and Gagan Ajit Singh all bagged hat-tricks while Inderjit Singh got himself a brace.

Other Indian scorers were Shamsuz Zoha, Arjun Halappa, Bimal Lakra, Kanwalpreet Singh and Paramjit Singh. The Iranians, who experienced playing on astroturf for the first time during this tournament, were simply no match for India’s second stringers.

With this win, India can even afford to lose, which is highly unlikely, their last match against Uzbekistan safe in the knowledge that the other teams cannot accumulate as many points. After four matches, India have a maximum 12 points.

In another in Group B match, tournament’s surprise package Bangladesh failed to capitalise on a below par performance by Japan. Both teams played to a drab scoreless draw which means that the second qualifier for the semifinals from the group will only be determined on Wednesday after Japan play Uzbekistan. Both Japan and Bangladesh have seven points from four matches.

Bangladesh showed more promise in attack while the Japanese looked like they are yet to recover from the 2-9 bashing at the hands of India on Saturday. The Japanese lacked ideas going forward and were just content to defend.

In another match, Malaysia defeated Singapore 9-0 to move into second place of Group A. Malaysia now have seven points from three matches. Chua Boon Huat grabbed a first-half hat-trick with goals in the sixth, 14th and 24th minutes. He added two more in the 37th and 43rd minutes to take his tally to nine. Rahim (16th and 38th), Keevan Raj (55th) and Mohd Fairuz Ramli (57th) were the other scorers.