India thump Oman 11-0 in U-18 Asian hockey meet

Dhaka, Sep 25 (IANS) India on Sunday registered a thumping 11-0 victory over Oman in the Under-18 Asia Cup hockey tournament, boosting their chances to make the knockout round as they shrugged off the 3-4 reverse against Bangladesh on the previous day.

With three players -- Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Dilpreet Singh and K. Ibungo Singh -- scoring hat-tricks, the result never looked in doubt as India looked to boosting their goal difference and their confidence.

The goals started early with the captain Sanjeep scoring off a penalty corner in the 8th minute. In the 15th minute, Sanjeep doubled the tally via another penalty corner conversion, before Abhishek's field goal in the next minute gave India a 3-0 lead.

Relentless in attack, and constantly pressurising their opponents, India scored three more goals before half time via Shivam Anand (26th), Ibungo (30th) and Dilpreet (34th).

Dilpreet was named Man-of-the-Match for all-round performance which also saw him register a hat-trick with two goals in the second half (53rd and 68th).

Sanjeep completed his hat-trick in the 52nd minute. As did Ibungo with two more goals in the 40th and 62nd minutes as India won 11-0.