Jalandhar : Indian Men’s Hockey Team began their title defence at the Asian Champions Trophy Punjab 2026 with a commanding 13-0 win over Bangladesh at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar on Tuesday.
Mandeep Singh (3′, 10′, 54′) scored a hat-trick, while captain Harmanpreet Singh (2′, 44′), Dilpreet Singh (43′, 44′) and Hardik Singh (60′, 60′) scored twice each. Shilanand Lakra (15′), Abhishek (18′), Nilakanta Sharma (26′) and Jugraj Singh (46′) were the other goalscorers for India.
The evening ended on an emotion note as Nilakanta announced his retirement from international hockey, marking this tournament as his last appearance in the India jersey.
India started strong and earned a penalty corner in the second minute, which Harmanpreet converted with a drag-flick to open the scoring. A minute later, Mandeep collected a pass from Harmanpreet at the top of the circle and found the net with a reverse-hit to double India’s lead. Bangladesh had a chance in the fourth minute, but Lakra cleared the ball.
Mandeep scored again in the 10th minute, finishing from close range after Harmanpreet’s aerial ball found Abhishek, who played it into the circle. Lakra added the fourth goal in the 15th minute following a move involving Sukhjeet Singh and Aditya Arjun Lalage.
India continued their attacking play in the second quarter, with Abhishek making it 5-0 in the 18th minute after receiving a pass from Mandeep on the left and finding space inside the circle. Nilakanta added another in the 26th minute with a reverse-stick shot from the top of the circle. Bangladesh goalkeeper Ashraful Shad made a fine save against Nilakanta earlier in the quarter, but India went into half-time with a comfortable 6-0 lead.
Bangladesh managed to hold the ball for longer spells in the third quarter, but India continued to create chances. Dilpreet converted a penalty corner in the 43rd minute before scoring again from open play a minute later. Harmanpreet then converted another penalty corner in the 44th minute to take India’s lead to 9-0.
India added another in the first minute of the final quarter, with Jugraj converting a penalty corner in the 46th minute. Mandeep completed his hat-trick in the 54th minute, stretching to turn in a cross from Aditya.
India kept looking for more goals in the closing stages. Hardik scored his first goal in the 60th minute after Bangladesh managed to block a PC. Hardik then scored again moments later, finishing a move that began with Harmanpreet’s pass to Dilpreet, who laid the ball off for Hardik to guide it into the net as India completed the 13-0 win with the passionate supporters waving the Indian tricolour in the stands.
In the other matches on the opening day, Malaysia beat China 5-4, while Japan defeated South Korea 3-2. India finished the first day at the top of the standings with three points and a goal difference of +13.
The six-team tournament follows a single round-robin format, with each team playing the other five sides once. The top four teams at the end of the league stage will qualify for the semi-finals.
India will next face China on October 29 at 19:00 PM IST. October 28 is a rest day in the league-stage schedule. All league matches will be played in Jalandhar until November 2, before the tournament moves to the Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium in Mohali for the semi-finals on November 4 and the bronze-medal and gold-medal matches on November 5.
