Odisha’s Dipsan Tirkey Scores 5 In 16-0 Romp As India Sneak Into Super 4s Of Asia Cup

Jakarta: India wallopped hosts Indonesia 16-0 to pip Pakistan to a Super 4s berth in the Asia Cup hockey championship at Jakarta on Thursday.

Odisha’s Dipsan Tirkey contributed handsomely with 5 goals, while another Odisha youngster Nilam Sanjeep Xess also got his name registered in the scoresheet. Abharan Sudev scored 3 goals and Man-of-the-Match Pawan Rajbhar netted 2 besides providing a couple of assists.

India had their task cut out, going into their final Pool A match, after having drawn 1-1 with Pakistan and lost 2-5 against Japan.

They needed to win by at least a 15-goal margin to have a better goal difference and qualify for the Super 4s ahead of arch-rivals Pakistan. The Birendra Lakra-led team managed to achieve that, scoring 6 in the first two quarters and 10 in the second half of the match.

India and Japan thus qualified from Pool A, along with Malaysia and Korea from Pool B.