In their previous outing, India had convincingly beaten Chile 7-0. The home team continued their attacking spree with Manmeet Singh (17th, 26th, 36th), Arshdeep Singh (4th, 33rd, 40th) and Dilraj Singh (29th, 32nd, 58th) scoring hat-tricks while Ajeet Yadav (34th, 47th), Gurjot Singh (39th, 45th) and Ingalemba Thounaojam Luwang (43rd, 50th) scored a brace each. Anmol Ekka (29th) and Sharda Nand Tiwari (55th) also contributed to India’s scoreline.
With this win, India are on top of the Pool B standings with six points. They are tied on points with Switzerland but have taken the top spot on account of a superior goal difference of 24 to 5 of the European outfit.
The opening quarter was quite a contrast though with Oman doing well in defence despite allowing an early goal. It was Arshdeep who opened the scoring with a fine field goal but the following minutes didn’t go as planned. Oman managed to slow down India’s attacking pace and no real chance came by to extend their lead.
But after the two-minute quarter break, India came back with fresh ammunition in their attack and within three minutes, they had their second goal through Manmeet. The young forward was a delight to watch as he created several opportunities for India.
As many as three goals were scored in the second quarter, setting the momentum for India’s high-scoring game. Manmeet scored again while Anmol and Dilraj joined the party that swelled India’s lead to 5-0 by the end of the first half.
India was in absolute command going into the third quarter and also overcame their early struggle to convert from penalty corners (PC). They drilled four more goals in the space of five minutes with Manmeet completing his well-deserved hat-trick. Dilraj and Arshdeep continued their goal fest, netting two apiece.
Three more goals came by, putting Oman under real pump and their defence remained hapless with the barrage of attack from India’s forward line.
With a 12-0 lead, the final quarter was a mere formality as India scored five more goals. Oman, who began positively, couldn’t keep up their momentum in their defence. Though they earned a PC, nothing came out of it. India’s goalies, on the other hand, came out with flying colours yet again, keeping another clean slate.
India play their final group stage game on Tuesday against Switzerland to decide who tops the group and qualifies for the quarter-finals.
