- India beat Oman 11-0 in their first match of the Asian Champions Trophy.
- Dilpreet Singh was named the Man of the Match for scoring a hat-trick.
- He scored in the 41st, 55th and 57th minute respectively.
Three goals from young striker Dilpreet Singh enabled India to launch the defence of their Asian Champions Trophy title with a runaway 11-0 victory over hosts Oman at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat on Thursday.
After being denied in the first quarter by the hosts, India opened the scoring through Lalit Upadhyay’s goal in open play in the 17th minute. Three more goals followed in the second quarter as Harmanpreet Singh (22nd minute) sounded the board with a low drag-flick, followed by Nilakanta Sharma (23rd minute) flicking in during a goalmouth scrimmage and Mandeep Singh (30th minute) capitalising on a pass from the right flank.
Having started with two forays into the Indian circle in the first quarter, Oman wilted under pressure in the second half. Dilpreet scored three goals (41st, 55th and 57th minute) and was adjudged Man of the Match, while Gurjant Singh (37th minute), Akashdeep Singh (27th minute), Varun Kumar (49th minute) and Chinglensana Singh (53rd minute) made it on the score-sheet.
It was not just an individual effort. My teammates created the openings for me to score the goals.Dilpreet Singh
Indian coach Harendra Singh said beginning with a big margin was the team’s target for the first outing. “We are happy to start in this manner, but tougher competition is ahead of us,” said Harendra. “I am not happy at the manner in which we played the first quarter. We have a lot of work to do.”
Oman team’s coach Tahir Zaman said he expected India to go all out, but was upset at the errors by his defenders. “We gave away four or five goals that should not have been there,” said Zaman, a former Pakistan captain. “We were playing against Asia’s highest-ranked team. Our target was to sustain and absorb the pressure that was expected from India,” said Zaman.
Despite the highly skilled opponents, our team did well to create some scoring opportunities in the first quarter. But the difference in quality became evident as the game proceeded. We need to learn from the mistakes and stay competitive in the tournament.Tahir Zaman
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)