Junior World Cup Hockey: Odisha’s Lakra Scores As India Bounce Back With 13-1 Win

Bhubaneswar: India bounced back from their opening defeat with a resounding 13-1 win over Canada in their Pool B match of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup here on Thursday evening.

Needing to win by a big margin to keep their quarterfinal hopes alive following the 4-5 loss against France on Wednesday, India got off the blocks early at Kalinga Stadium and gained a 2-0 lead in the first quarter. Two more goals followed in second quarter and three in the third. But it was in the final quarter that the defending world champions went all out to score six goals.

Odisha’s Abhishek Lakra was among the scorers, converting a penalty corner in the 55th minute. Sanjay and Araijeet Singh Hundal scored three goals each, Uttam Singh and Shardanand Tiwari netted 2 each, while skipper Vivek Sagar Prasad and Maninder Singh got one each.

With France leading the pool with 2 wins in as many games, India and Poland will battle for second spot when they clash on Saturday. Whoever wins will make the knockout stage, while a draw will favour India as they have a better goal difference.

As many as 70 goals were scored in five matches on Thursday, compared to 26 goals in as many games on Day 1 of the tournament.