When Indian men's hcokey team began their all-important match vs lowly Indonesia in the last Group A match on Thursday (May 21), they needed to win this game and win by a huge margin as well. To knock Pakistan out and qualify for Super 4s, they needed to beat Indonesia by a difference of 16 goals and the young lads did it in the last seconds of the game.
The massive win not only secured India's passage into the knockout stage of the tournament but also shut the door on Pakistan.
Both India and Pakistan finished on four points each in Pool A behind Japan but the holders qualified for the Super 4s on the basis of a better goal difference (1).
Magnificent game for #MenInBlue as they mark a big win against Indonesia at the Hero Asia Cup 2022 to qualify for the Super 4s of the Hero Asia Cup 2022!_#IndiaKaGame #HockeyIndia #HeroAsiaCup #MatchDay #INDvsINA @CMO_Odisha @sports_odisha @IndiaSports @Media_SAI pic.twitter.com/TJOEixswSk
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) May 26, 2022
India needed to beat Indonesia by a 15-0 margin or more to make it to the next round and the defending champions rode on splendid show from Dipsan Tirkey, who hammered five goals, and Sudev Belimagga, who sounded the board thrice.
Veteran SV Sunil, Pawan Rajbhar and Karthi Selvam scored a brace each while Uttam Singh and Nilam Sanjeep Xess scored a goal each.
Pakistan had lost 2-3 to Japan earlier in the day.
With the win, India have not only qualified for the Super 4s but also helped Japan, South Korea and Malaysia qualify for the FIH World Cup 2023. India have already qualified as hosts while Pakistan are OUT of the 2023 Hockey World Cup.
With agency inputs
