Young sticks run riot
India slots seven goals past Chile to win the opener
Rosan Kujur weaves past defenders to enter the shooting circle during the match
CHENNAI: Rosan Kujur and Dilraj Singh struck twice each as India eased past Chile 7-0 in a commanding start to its FIH Junior Hockey World Cup campaign in Chennai on Friday.
The contrast between the sides was evident early on. Chile handed four players their Junior World Cup debuts, while India had players who have already featured for the senior team. India came out sharp, dominating the first quarter with wave after wave of circle entries, though it could not make the pressure count.
India earned its first penalty corner with a second left in the opening quarter. A long ball from the left was brilliantly kept in play by Sunil Bennur, and Arshdeep Singh injected the set-piece. Rohit’s strike was saved, and although the rebound was pushed back from the dotted line, Arshdeep could not find the finishing touch.
The breakthrough arrived early in the second quarter. Defender Amir Ali surged forward from midfield and found Rosan Kujur, whose powerful shot slipped through the legs of goalkeeper Nicolas Troncoso.
Rosan doubled his tally soon after, showing fine composure to round the goalkeeper and finish from an Arshdeep pass.
Arshdeep, constantly stretching the Chile defence, was involved again when Gasper Carvajal’s miscontrol in front of goal gifted India its third penalty corner. Sharda Nand Tiwari’s flick was saved, but Dilraj Singh pounced on the rebound for his first of the tournament. India went into half-time 3-0 up.
The hosts kept the tempo high in the third quarter. Dilraj added another goal, and Ajeet Yadav made it 5-0 moments later.
Chile had a rare opening when it earned its first penalty corner with five minutes left in the third quarter, but Arnau Labbe, a product of FC Barcelona’s youth system, failed to trap the injection.
India pressed on in the final quarter. Manmeet Singh won another penalty corner, and Anmol Ekka drove the ball firmly into the net for India’s sixth. Skipper Rohit rounded off the scoring to cap a clinical performance and a confident start to India’s campaign.
Rohit rounded off the scoring to cap a clinical performance and a confident start to India’s campaign.