India thrash Pakistan 4-0 to enter Asia Cup hockey final

Dhaka : A dominant India continued their unbeaten run in the tournament and thrashed arch-rivals Pakistan 4-0 to sail into the final of the 10th men’s Asia Cup hockey tournament here on Saturday.The sixth-ranked India, who just needed a draw to seal a place in tomorrow’s summit clash, produced a superlative performance after the change of ends to pump in four goals—three field strikes and one through penalty corner. Satbir Singh (39th minute), Harmanpreet Singh (51st), Lalit Upadhyay (52nd) and Gurjant Singh (57th) were the scorers for India.
By virtue of this win, India not only topped the Super-4 stage with seven points, but also continued their domination over Pakistan.
It was India’s fourth win over Pakistan this year, having beaten them twice in the Hockey World League Semi-finals in London and once in the pool stages here.
The defeat knocked Pakistan out of the final race and India will now play either Korea or Malaysia, who play later in the day, in the final.
Contrary to the result, the Indians were slow to get off the blocks, while Pakistan were the better side in terms of possession in the first two quarters.Pakistan had three chances via penalty corners to take the lead in the first quarter, but wasted all.