Rampaging India hammer Asian Games champions Japan 9-0
Asian Hockey Champions Trophy
Muscat, Oct 22 : The Indian men's hockey team put up a clinical performance against Japan, demolishing the Asiad gold-medallists 9-0 for its third win in as many matches at the Hero Asian Champions Trophy here.
As many as six Indian players made entries on the score-sheet on Sunday night in a dominating show that reaffirmed their supremacy in Asia and showed that the below-par Asian Games performance was an aberration.
With their third successive win, India lead the six-team event's league standings with a maximum nine points, followed by Malaysia on six points from two games.
Strikers Lalit Upadhyay and Mandeep Singh scored two goals each, while drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty stroke and a penalty corner to lead the goal-fest.
Upadhyay opened the Indian scoring in the fourth minute with a diving deflection and again got into the action in the 45th minute for his double, while Harmanpreet converted a penalty stroke in the 17th minute and then sounded the board with a low penalty corner shot in the 21st minute.
As Japan's defence was swept away by the Indian raids, Mandeep Singh capitalised on two openings in the last quarter -- in the 49th and 57th minute.
Japan's goalkeeper Takashi Yoshikawa was injured in the eighth minute when he blocked Harmanpreet's penalty corner shot, only for the ball to rebound to Gurjant, who flicked it in. Thereafter, reserve Yusuke Takano had to bear the brunt of the Indian attack.
Indian coach Harendra Singh was pleased by his team's ruthless performance.
"The way we played was good. We played to a plan and did not allow Japan's team to play in a certain manner," said Harendra. The game also saw a goal each from Akashdeep Singh (36th) and Sumit (42nd).
On the points table, Pakistan have three points from two matches, while Japan are on three points in three games. South Korea and Oman have lost both their matches.
Japan coach Siegfried Aikman said India were too strong to be contained in this contest.
"We tried our level best, but they were very strong. We were below the level as India sparkled with their speed, agility and hard-press game," said Aikman.
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Ajit Pawar rues Marathi-speaking areas of Karnataka still not part of Maharashtra
Mumbai, May 1 (PTI): Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday said even 65 years after the formation of Maharashtra, there is one regret - that Belgaum and Karwar, parts of adjoining Karnataka, were still not merged with the western Marathi-speaking state.
Speaking at a party event organised on the occasion of Maharashtra Day, Pawar, who heads the ruling NCP, asserted his outfit will not abandon the ideology of legendary social reformers Shahu Maharaj, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and B R Ambedkar.
Recalling the work of chief ministers of Maharashtra from the first CM Yashwantrao Chavan to the incumbent Devendra Fadnavis, Pawar said each one of them have contributed to development of the state since its formation in 1960.
"Maharashtra was formed out of struggle. Even if Maharashtra has completed 65 years of its existence, here is one regret in our hearts. Even today, the Marathi manoos (Marathi-speaking people) of Belgaum and Karwar are still not with us. The case is going on in the Supreme Court.
"The day they are merged with Maharashtra, we can confidently said Maharashtra is now complete," he said.
Maharashtra has been demanding that Marathi-speaking areas in Karnataka -- Belgaum, Karwar, Nipani -- be merged with the state, a stand strongly opposed by the southern state.
Pawar noted India's population in 1947 was 35 crore, but it has now multiplied four times to 140 crore. The population of the state has also increased accordingly, he said.
He emphasised that those in power now and in the past have been working to address the water woes of Maharashtra, but with a growing population, the sources have become limited.
The deputy CM said some people oppose the bullet train project in India, but China and Japan have progressed because of such high-speed transport modes.
The erstwhile Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government (November 2019-June 2022) had stopped the bullet train project connecting Mumbai to Ahmedabad which is currently under construction.
