The Indian men's junior hockey team maintained its unbeaten run on the tour of England, thrashing the hosts 7-1 at the Bisham Abbey Sports Centre in Marlow. Ajay Yadav (27th, 43rd minute) and Varun Kumar (32nd, 35th) scored twice each for the Indians, while Manpreet (15th), Gurjant Singh (38th) and Simranjeet Singh (40th) accounted for the other goals.
Varun Kumar converted a penalty corner in the 24th minute to hand India the lead before Simranjeet Singh (55th) scored a diving field goal from skipper Manpreet Singh's brilliant pass to secure full three points for the five-time champions.
While Belgium dominated the first half, India did well to roar back in the second session. Belgium went into the half-time break with a 1-0 lead, but India fought back well to keep pressure on the opponents in the 2nd half.
Belgium and Australia are two world-class teams we saw in the final (in Tokyo). I think they are the benchmark and that's what we need to be aiming for, says India's chief coach Graham Reid.
The other teams in India's pool are Spain, New Zealand and hosts Japan. The Pool B is made up of Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Canada and South Africa in the groupings announced by world governing body FIH on Saturday.
This is the first Olympic qualifier where the top-three finishers in individual and team categories will get berths at the Paris Games.
Riding high on confidence after their 5-1 win over Spain in the third match of the Tour of Belgium, the Indian men's hockey team started on an attacking note against the hosts and earned a penalty corner in the 10th minute, which was duly converted by Rohidas to give his side the lead.
The Indian men's hockey wound up its league stage engagements at the Olympics with a 4-2 victory over Japan and consolidated second place in Group A, behind Australia, on Friday.
The eight-time Olympic champions, who will play in the last four stage at the Games after 49 years, will take on Belgium, who beat Spain 3-1 in another quarter-final earlier.
World No 5 India won all five matches during the tour, beating Belgium 2-0 in the opening match, and registering 6-1 and 5-1 wins over Spain in the next two games, before finishing off their Tour with two more wins (2-1 and 5-1).
Rupinder Pal Singh (8th minute), Surender Kumar (15th), Mandeep Singh (44th) and Akashdeep Singh (60th) scored the goals for India.
Going into the title clash, World no. 5 India were clear favourites to lift their sixth Azlan Shah title against the 17th ranked Koreans.
Olympic bronze-winning Indian men's hockey team captain Manpreet Singh was on Tuesday added to the list of Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna awardees, taking the total number of this year's winners to an unparalleled 12.
Gujarat Titans are currently at the top of the IPL table with 18 points from 12 games and a win on Sunday will more or less secure them a top-2 finish. That would mean an extra chance of making it to the final.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday.
India began the opening quarter with a structured attack. It was striker SV Sunil who took the team's first potential shot on goal in the opening minute but was well defended by New Zealand goalkeeper Richard Joyce.
After a barren first quarter, Manpreet scored in the 21st and 26th minutes while drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty corner in the 36th as India registered their second consecutive win of the tournament.
Former World No 1 Deepika Kumari, who was making a comeback after her maternity break, on Monday failed to make the Indian team for the Asian Games, World Cup and World Championships slated later this year.
Favourites India demolished hapless Russia 10-0 in their opening match of the FIH Series Finals hockey tournament to start their 2020 Olympics qualification campaign on a rousing note, Bhubaneswar, on Thursday.
'Yes, of course, there is little expectation on the results, but I am more focussed on my performance rather than the outcome because, in sports, anything can happen.'
Following is India's schedule at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Sunday, October 1.
Defending champions India continued their unbeaten run as they beat South Korea 5-3 in the Pool A match to storm into the semi-finals of the men's hockey competition at the 18th Asian Games.
India blanked arch-rivals Pakistan 4-0 to open its campaign on a rousing note in the final edition of the Champions Trophy hockey tournament.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) is planning to have India and Pakistan play their home and away matches in Europe if the arch-rivals face off in the Olympic qualifying tournament for a berth at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
The Indians will have to be at their best in all departments to get the better of the ever-improving Red Lions, who will be out to prove a point after a not-so-impressive opener.
India's schedule at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Monday, October 2.
Paralympic gold-winners Avani Lekhara, Sumit Antil, Pramod Bhagat, Krishna Nagar, Manish Narwal were also given the Khel Ratna at a dazzling awards ceremony on Saturday.
India gave away a goal in the eighth minute before bouncing back strongly after half time to lead 2-1. But Belgium struck four minutes from the hooter to snatch a 2-2 draw in an evenly-contested match.
The men's team last participated in an international competition in February last year when they played the FIH Hockey Pro League matches against Australia in Bhubaneswar.
The huge gulf between the two sides was evident as India bettered its 86-year-old record when it defeated USA with a 24-1 margin in Olympics.
The Indian women's compound team of Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Aditi Swami and Parneet Kaur won the gold medal in the World Archery Championships.
India's junior men's hockey team came back strongly in the ongoing 5th Sultan of Johor Cup as they defeated Argentina 3-2 in the third league match in Johor Bahru on Wednesday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Harmanpreet Singh came up with his second hat-trick of the tournament as defending champions India hammered Australia 6-2 to storm into the final of the Sultan of Johor Cup hockey tournament, in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, on Saturday.
While India will play host to the men's tournament, Spain and the Netherlands have been named as the co-host of the 2022 Women's World Cup scheduled to be held from July 1 to 22.
The Indian men's hockey team will have to guard against complacency when it takes on lower-ranked Russia, while a tricky contest awaits their female counterparts against United States in the two-legged Olympic qualifiers.
Harmanpreet Singh struck twice as India edged past hosts Malaysia 2-1 in their fourth league match of the 5th Sultan of Johor Cup, Junior Hockey tournament in Johor Bahru on Thursday.
'If we want to ensure this isn't a once-in-four-decade phenomenon, then we have to produce 1,800 players all the time, create infrastructure, so that we are constantly challenging at the top of the ladder.'
An impressive India thrashed Canada 5-1 to top Pool C and seal a direct berth in the quarter-finals of the men's hockey World Cup.
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