Kakamigahara, Sept. 20 -- Defending champions India produced a brilliant all-round performance led by striker Dilpreet Singh's four-goal haul to outplay unfancied Indonesia 13-1 in their opening Pool A match of the Asian Games here on Sunday.
All of Dilpreet's four strikes (18th, 19th, 37th, 49th) were field goals, while Shilanand Lakra (6th, 35th) and Sukhjeet Singh (38th, 48th) scored a brace each for India.
The other goal-scorers were Abhishek (12th), Rajinder Singh (19th), Mandeep Singh (21st), skipper Harmanpreet Singh (28th), and Jugraj Singh (47th).
Indonesia's solitary goal was scored by Aulia Al Ardh in the 33rd minute.
India will next play Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
The Indians got off the blocks in the sixth minute through Lakra's rebound after skipper Harmanpreet's drag-flick was saved by Indonesia goalkeeper Alam Fajar. As expected, India controlled the possession and dominated most of the game. In the 12th minute, Abhishek doubled the lead from a rebound after the initial shot was saved by the Indonesian custodian.
Dilpreet made it 3-0 in the 18th minute, pushing in an assist from Abhishek.
A minute later, he scored his second goal of the match, guiding home a pass from Sukhejeet Singh from the far post.
A few seconds later, Rajinder added his name to the score-sheet, turning in a rebound after excellent attacking play from Sukhjeet, and just two minutes later, Mandeep scored another field goal.
India continued to apply relentless pressure on the Indonesian defence, earning a penalty stroke in the 27th minute when Manpreet Singh was fouled inside the 'D' while trying to score on a rebound.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.