Bhubaneswar: After losing their maiden play, India stormed back to defeat Canada 13-1 in their second Pool B encounter in the FIH Men’s Junior Hockey World Cup on Thursday.
Vice-captain Sanjay (17th, 32nd, 59th) scored a second consecutive hat-trick while Araijeet Singh Hundal (40th, 50th, 51st) too found the net thrice to lead the defending champions India to victory heroically.
Others, like as Uttam, scored from inside the circle in the third minute to give them a 1-0 lead and again scored another at the 47th minute. Shardanand Tiwai (35th, 53rd), Vivek Sagar Prasad (8th), Maninder Singh (27th), and Abhishek Lakra (55th).
The hosts kept up the pressure and extended their position in the eighth minute when skipper Vivek glanced in a Maninder Singh assist.
In the 11th minute, Canada had two back-to-back PCs, but they were both squandered as India took a 2-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Just after the resumption, India increased their lead to 3-0 when Sanjay scored from the penalty spot after being granted a stroke for an infraction on their first PC.
However, Roopkanwar Dhillon converted a penalty corner conversion with seconds remaining in the second quarter to give Canada one goal.
The Indians continued their attacking purpose, and by the final minutes of play, the scoreboard vividly displayed the colts’ dominance, as the score was 13-1.
Argentina defeated Egypt 15-0, the Netherlands thrashed Korea 12-5, and Spain blasted the United States 17-0 earlier in the day.
After defeating Poland 7-1 on Thursday, France leads Pool B with two wins while India is in second position. On Saturday, India will face Poland in their last pool fixture.
