Defending and two-time champions India started their 2018 Asian Champions Trophy campaign with an 11-0 mauling of hosts Oman in Muscat on Thursday.
Young striker Dilpreet Singh scored a hat-trick after Lalit Upadhyay opened the floodgates in the 17th minute. Oman did manage to keep the holders at bay in the first quarter but India found their rhythm once the play resume after the quick breather.
Three more goals followed in the second quarter of the match played on Thursday night as Harmanpreet Singh (22nd minute) sounded the board with a low drag-flick, followed by Shanglakpam Nilakanta Sharma (23rd minute), who flicked in during a goalmouth scrimmage and Mandeep Singh (30th minute), who capitalised on a pass from the right flank.
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Having started with two forays into the Indian circle in the first quarter, Oman wilted under pressure in the second half.
Dilpreet scored three goals (41st, 55th and 57th minute) and was adjudged Man of the Match, while Gurjant Singh (37th minute), Akashdeep Singh (27th minute), Varun Kumar (49th minute) and Chinglensana Kangujam (53rd minute) also made entries on the score-sheet.
Elated at his first Man of the Match performance for the senior national team, Dilpreet credited his teammates for creating opportunities.
"It was not just an individual effort. My teammates created the openings for me to score the goals," he said.
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Indian coach Harendra Singh said beginning with a big win was the team’s target.
"We are happy to start in this manner, but tougher competition is ahead of us," said Harendra ahead of the clash against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday night.
"I am not happy at the manner in which we played the first quarter. We have a lot of work to do."
Oman team’s coach Tahir Zaman said he expected India to go all out, but was upset at the errors by his defenders.
"We gave away four or five goals that should not have been there. We were playing against Asia’s highest-ranked team. Our target was to sustain and absorb the pressure that was expected from India," said Zaman, a former Pakistan captain.
"Despite the highly skilled opponents, our team did well to create some scoring opportunities in the first quarter. But the difference in quality became evident as the game proceeded," he added.
Earlier in the day, Malaysia humbled Asian Games Champions Japan 3-0.
India next play arch-rivals Pakistan on October 20, followed by clashes with Japan on October 21, Malaysia on October 23 and South Korea on October 24.
The last edition of the tournament saw India remain undefeated as they defeated Japan 10-2, drew 1-1 with South Korea, beat Pakistan 3-2, China 9-0 and Malaysia 2-1 in the pool stages.
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In the semi-finals, India had beaten South Korea 5-4 in a penalty shootout.
India and Pakistan have both clinched the title twice each and will be looking to win a record third time when the tournament.
India had clinched the title in the inaugural edition in 2011 as well as in 2016, whereas Pakistan won the 2012 and 2013 editions.
(PTI)
