Men’s hockey team inches closer to semis

BIRMINGHAM: Harmanpreet Singh and Akashdeep Singh scored a brace each as the India men’s hockey team produced a dominating performance to rout Canada 8-0 in its third match and jump to the top of Pool B at the Commonwealth Games here on Wednesday.

Harmanpreet (7th, 54th minute) converted two penalty corners while Akashdeep (38th, 60th) scored two fine field goals. Amit Rohidas (10th), Lalit Upadhyay (20th), Gurjant Singh (27th) and Mandeep Singh (58th) were the other goal scorers for India.

With the win, India (7 points) moved to the top of the pool ahead of England (7 points). The Indians play Wales in their final group match on Thursday.

India recovered from the jolt of the 4-4 draw against England after leading 3-0 at one stage in the last match. The team came out with more purpose and totally dominated Canada in the first two quarters.

Women’s team enters semi-finals

The India women’s hockey team survived some anxious moments before beating the lower-ranked Canada 3-2 in its must-win Pool A match to qualify for the semi-finals.

The Indians looked in control of the match till the 22nd minute, having taken a 2-0 lead over their World no.15 opponent through goals from Salima Tete (3rd minute) and Navneet Kaur (22nd).

But the Canadians then produced a lion-hearted performance to level the score through goals from Brienne Stairs (23rd) and Hannah Haughn (39th).

With England (9 points) already assured of a semi-final berth from the pool with a 3-1 win over India on Tuesday, it was a do-or-die match for the Savita Punia-led side (9 points), with Canada needing just a draw to progress as it had a better goal difference.

The Indians came out aggressive in the first quarter and dominated the proceedings at the start. And, eventually, they won.