Indian men's hockey team qualifies for Olympics after mauling Russia 7-1 in second game
Bhubaneswar, Nov 2: Eight-time winners India qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after thrashing Russia 7-1 (11-3 on aggregate) in the second game of the two-legged FIH Qualifiers for men here on Saturday.
The men's team booked their tickets after the women defeated USA 6-5 on aggregate to qualify for the sporting extravaganza.
The Indian men, ranked fifth in the world, had earlier defeated world number 22 Russia 4-2 in the first-leg on Friday.
On Saturday, Akashdeep Singh (23rd and 29th minutes) and Rupinder Pal Singh (48th, 59th) scored a brace each, while Lalit Upadhyay (17th), Nilkanta Sharma (47th) and Amit Rohidas (60th) struck after Russia took an early lead in the opening minute through Alexey Sobolevskiy.
The Russians stunned India 25 seconds into the game when Sobolevskiy opened the scoring to reduce the goal difference to just one.
The Indians were slow to get off the blocks and it took seven minutes for the hosts to get their first scoring opportunity in the form of a penalty corner, but it was wasted.
After a sedate start, the Indians intensified the pressure on Russia's goal but were unable to create clear chances. Russia, on the other hand, looked dangerous on counter-attacks as the hosts trailed by a goal in the opening quarter.
India equalised in the 21st minute through a field strike by Lalit Upadhyay, who deflected in a Hardik Singh shot.
The Indians upped their ante and took the lead in the 23rd minute when Akashdeep scored following a penalty corner.
There was no stopping India after that as they kept up the pressure on the Russian defence and mounted quite a few attacks.
Graham Reid's men extended their lead just a minute from half time when Akashdeep scored his second goal of the game through individual brilliance.
India went into the halfway break with a comfortable 7-3 lead over Russia on aggregate, courtesy three strikes in the second quarter.
Five minutes after the change of ends, Alexander Skiperskiy narrowly missed the target after a beautiful team work by the Russians.
In the 44th minute, Ramandeep Singh missed a big opportunity to increase India's lead as his attempt went wide.
There was no stopping the Indians after the initial hiccup as they added four more goals in the final quarter to add to Russia's agony.
Nilakanta scored with a powerful shot into the top left angle of the goal in the 47th minute before Rupinder converted a penalty corner in the very next minute.
The berth more or less secured, India pumped in two more goals in the final two minutes of the game through penalty corner conversions by Rupinder and Rohidas.
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Two Delhi men held for BMTC bus phone thefts in Bengaluru
Bengaluru: Whitefield police have arrested two men from Delhi for allegedly stealing mobile phones from passengers travelling in Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses and solved 14 theft cases, officials said on Tuesday.
The arrested accused have been identified as Jai Chand (25), who worked at a hotel in Delhi, and Tarun (34), an autorickshaw driver in Delhi.
Officials said on January 24, a Mahadevapura resident lodged a complaint that his iPhone 15 Plus was stolen while he was travelling on a BMTC bus towards Whitefield.
Based on the complaint, police registered a case and arrested two suspects within an hour near a lodge on Hosa Road. During the arrest, the police found a bag containing several stolen mobile phones.
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“During interrogation, the suspects confessed that they were stealing mobile phones from passengers travelling in BMTC buses. They had also committed thefts during a concert held under the Channarayapatna police station limits on January 23,” the police said.
Investigations revealed that the accused had travelled from Delhi for the concert and stolen mobile phones from the audience. A third suspect is at large and is likely hiding in the Shahdara area of Delhi.
One of the victims, a YouTuber, raised the theft issue in February in a post on X.
“Here is my (FIR No 0013/2026 is registered in Channarayapatana PS. Your GSC No. is PO1814260100013) request @DelhiPolice @BlrCityPolice to plz look into this & get my device back since it's my work phone & I am a youtuber, all my data is there! someone plz help. @dcpwhitefield,” Anirban Sarkar posted on X on February 6.
Police have recovered 14 mobile phones of various brands, collectively valued at about Rs 9 lakh, from the accused. The two were produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody.
In total, one case from Whitefield and 13 from Channarayapatna police stations were detected. Further investigation is underway.
