Asia Cup hockey: India outclass Pakistan 3-1

Dhaka, October 15: India continued their winning ways defeating Pakistan 3-1 in a pool encounter of the 10th men's Asia Cup hockey tournament here on Sunday (October 15).

After the two easy wins against Japan (5-1) and hosts Bangladesh (7-0), India had a relatively tough outing against Pakistan.

India controlled the proceedings for the better part of the match, barring the final quarter when Pakistan, trailing 0-3, came hard on the Indian defence in search of goals.

But the Indians came out superior and continued their recent domination over Pakistan, that includes back-to-back victories in the Hockey World League semifinal in London earlier this year.

FT! INDIA WIN!! It's three from three as the Men in Blue sail past Pakistan on 15th Oct.#INDvPAK #HeroAsiaCup pic.twitter.com/e71qKQkxcQ

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) October 15, 2017

Chinglesnsana Singh (17th minute), Ramandeep Singh (44th) and Harmanpreet Singh (45th) scored the goals for India, while Pakistan's lone strike came from Ali Shan in the 49th minute.

By virtue of this win, India finished on top of Pool A with nine points from three games while Pakistan secured the second spot with four points.

Both India and Pakistan have secured their place in the round-robin Super 4 stage of the tournament.

Even though Japan defeated hosts Bangladesh 3-1 earlier in the day, it was not enough for them to enter the Super 4 stage as they lost out to Pakistan on goal difference.

The Indians came out hard in the second quarter and took the lead in the 17th minute through Chinglesnsana, who slammed home after receiving a fine pass from Akashdeep Singh.

After Pakistan wasted their third penalty corner, Ramandeep doubled India's lead in the 44th minute with a neat deflection off Harmanpreet Singh's fantastic cross from the middle of the pitch.

India extended their lead in the very next minute from their second penalty corner through Harmanpreet.

Pakistan, who looked more purposeful in the fourth and final quarter, reduced the margin in the 49th minute through Shan's field strike.