Asia Cup Hockey: India beat arch-rivals Pakistan 3-1, top pool A
Dhaka: The Indian men's hockey team continued their winning run at the ongoing Asia Cup 2017 as they defeated their arch rivals Pakistan 3-1 in a high-voltage Group A encounter in Dhaka on Sunday.
India, who were already on top of the pool table with six points from two wins (against Japan 5-1 and Bangladesh 7-0), dominated the game from the very beginning and didn't allow Pakistan to overcome them.
The Manpreet Singh-led side drew first blood through Chinglensana in the 17th minute of the game and they maintained their 1-0 lead till the end of half time.
Ramandeep Singh and Harmanpreet Singh scored in consecutive minutes and assured India their third straight win of the tournament.
Ali Shan scored the lone goal for Pakistan in the 49th minute.
Despite the result, Pakistan are in the top four along with India from Pool A. From Pool B, South Korea and Malaysia are in the semi-finals.
Pakistan had got off to a roaring start in this tournament with a 7-0 win against hosts Bangladesh, but they stumbled against Japan as they settled for a 2-2 draw.
In London, India had beaten Pakistan 7-1 in the pool stage and followed it up with a 6-1 win in the classification match of Hero Hockey World League Semi Final.