India feast on goals, crush South Korea 8-0 to complete Asian Champions Trophy stage unbeaten

India vs Korea (Photo: Hockey India) JALANDHAR: Unbeaten India wrapped up the league stage of the Asian Champions Trophy with an 8-0 win over South Korea here on Monday.Dilpreet Singh (8th, 40th minute) scored a brace while Jugraj Singh (11), Harmanpreet Singh (15), Shilanand Lakra (33), Sukhjeet Singh (34), Sanjay Rana (36) and Angad Bir Singh (60) added goals each. India have dominated the league with five wins and will face South Korea again in the semi-finals. Malaysia will face Japan in the next four matches when the action moves to Mohali.India created early pressure, chances created by Sukhjeet. The breakthrough came in the opening quarter when Jarmanpreet Singh cut through the Korean defense and Dilpreet Singh beat goalkeeper Kim Jaehyeon with a turn.India doubled their lead when Jugraj converted a penalty corner. Captain Harmanpreet added another in the 15th minute. India carried the momentum into the second quarter, maintaining their attacking intensity and possession control.Despite Korea’s attempts to fight back, India’s defensive organization and excellent ball control kept them in command with a three-goal cushion at half-time.India went one way with another four goals in the third quarter. Shilanand opened the scoring of the quarter finishing a penalty corner which was joined by Harmanpreet and Jugraj from near the post.The fifth goal came from strong team coordination, a long pass from Harmanpreet found Aditya Lalage who set up Sukhjeet for a simple save.The home side showed no signs of slowing down as Shilanand set up Dilpreet whose effort was parried by the keeper before Sanjay converted the rebound to make it 6-0. Sanjay then turned provider, controlled Harmanpreet’s aerial pass and drove forward before Dilpreet’s stick touch made it 7-0. Angad completed the scoring just before the final whistle.Other results: China: 1 (Chen Benhai 2) draw with Bangladesh: 1 (Ashraful Islam 38); Japan: 2 (Kentaro Fukuda 24, 54) bt Malaysia: 1 (Abu Kamal Azrai 10).