India defeat Pakistan for the second time in a week

India defeated Pakistan in the 5-8 place classification match in the FIH HWL Semifinal in London 6-1. This is now the second highest margin of win for India against Pakistan after the record 7-1 win was set on the 18 of June when they played in the Group stage of the of the tournament. Four of the Indian players made it to the scoresheet with double strikes from Ramandeep and Mandeep Singh and one each from Talwinder Singh and Harmanpreet Singh. For Pakistan, only Ajaz Ahmed could find the back of the net but it was to only shed the humiliation.

India landed in the 5-8 place classifiers after losing out a close match to the Malaysians in the quarters. Ramandeep had scored twice in that match too but the result remained 3-2 against India. Pakistan had lost their quarterfinal face-off against the world champions Argentina.

India started well on the front foot and did not waste a second on the field. Akashdeep went forward with a shot on the goal at the very first minute. Mandeep brought India’s first penalty corner in the 6 minute after his shot was saved by a raised stick. The PC taken by Harmanpreet was saved well by Pakistan. Two minutes later, Ramandeep opened the Indian scoring off an assist from Satbir Singh. India looked full dominant in the first quarter even though Pakistan was trying hard to find the equalizer.

The second quarter was the magical spell for the Indian side. A shot from Ramandeep hit the bar in the 23 minute which could only have widened the margin if Pakistan knew what was coming their way a few moments later. The next minute, Talwinder found an empty net to make the score 2-0. In the minutes to follow Mandeep and Ramandeep too penetrated through the Pakistan defense line to make the score 4-0. This was an incredible forward play from the Indian lads. Pakistan was left high and dry after 3 consecutive goals in 4 minutes.

The third quarter also saw India open with the attack. Harmanpreet converted a PC through a rather technical left drag on to the net, the Pakistan keeper could only notice it go past him. Pakistan scored their only goal in the 41 minute after Chinglesana’s error in front of the goal. The score after the third quarter coming to 5-1. The fourth quarter saw one goal from Mandeep Singh in the closing minutes of the game to take the final margin to 6-1 for India.

India will next face Canada in the 5-6 place match. The Netherlands, England, Malaysia, and Argentina have moved on to the semis and have qualified for the World Cup in India next year.