India spectacularly kickstarted their title defence as they hammered hosts China in the Asian Men's Champions Trophy 3-0 on Sunday, September 8. Sukhjeet Singh, Uttam Singh and Abhishek struck the three goals for India and dominated China in their campaign opener at the Moqi Training Base, Hulunbuir (China).
Sukhjeet scored the first goal of the match in the 14th minute to unsettle the Chinese defence and the Men in Blue didn't look back from there. India's second goal came in the second quarter when Uttam Singh breached the Chinese defence yet again.
India dominated the ball possession and the scoring opportunities for the Chinese forwards were very few and far between. Abhishek, who was kept quiet by the Chinese defenders in the initial phase came to the fore by scoring a stunning field goal in the 32nd minute.
Krishan Bahadur Pathak, who stood in front of the goalpost for India for the first time following the retirement of PR Sreejesh was hardly tested as India's defence was compact and didn't let the Chinese forwards make too many deep runs into their half.
India were expected to dominate the outing and they did so after their superb performance at the Paris Olympics. India enjoyed a phenomenal run at the Paris Olympics and defeated Spain in the bronze-medal match to finish third. Harmanpreet Singh had finished the Paris Olympics as the leading goal-scorer with 10 goals - three more than Australia's Blake Govers who finished second with seven.
India will take on Japan on Monday, September 9 in their second fixture.
India's squad for the Asian Champions Trophy:
Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Suraj Karkera
Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh (C), Jugraj Singh, Sanjay, Sumit
Midfielders: Raj Kumar Pal, Nilakanta Sharma, Vivek Sagar Prasad (VC), Manpreet Singh, Mohammed Raheel Mouseen
Forwards: Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Araijeet Singh Hundal, Uttam Singh, Gurjot Singh
