The Indian men’s hockey team scripted history by thrashing minnows Hong Kong 26-0 in a Pool A encounter at the 18th Asian Games here on Wednesday.
This is the highest ever victory margin by India, breaking an 86-year-old record. The previous highest victory margin was 24-1 against the US at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.
India were off to an explosive start with Akashdeep Singh (2nd minute) Manpreet Singh (3rd), Rupinder Pal Singh (4th, 5th) and S.V. Sunil, who scored twice in the seventh minute giving their team a 6-0 lead within the first seven minutes.
Vivek Sagar Prasad scored with a deflection from a close range in the 13th minute to put India 7-0 ahead by the end of the first quarter.
The Indians continued their rampage as Lalit Upadhay (17th, 18th, 35th, 55th) Mandeep (20th, 22nd), Amit Rohidoss (27th), Manpreet (28th), Varun Kumar (28th), Akashdeep (32nd, 39th), Sunil (45th), Dilpreet Singh (47th), Chenglensana Singh (51st), Harmanpreet Singh (52nd, 53rd, 55th), Simranjeet Singh (53rd) and Rupinder (59th) finding the target.
