Kakamigahara, September 28: Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored a hat-trick as India beat Bangladesh 10-0 in heavy rain on Monday to finish top of Pool A at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 and set up a semi-final against Pakistan on October 1.
Shilanand Lakra scored twice for the defending champions, who won all five pool matches. Malaysia play South Korea in the other semi-final.
India beat Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Japan, South Korea and Bangladesh to finish the group with a goal difference of +45. They now have two days off before the semi-final.
Rain delays the start
The match started 30 minutes late. Heavy rain had stopped the earlier game between Pakistan and Oman for about 15 minutes, and the rest of the day’s schedule was pushed back.
The rain kept falling throughout, leaving the pitch waterlogged and the ball hard to move at pace. India coped better with the conditions.
Abhishek scores early, Jugraj converts a stroke
India went ahead in the third minute. Sanjay joined the attack and, from a tight angle inside the circle, found Abhishek, who shifted to his left and beat the goalkeeper with a reverse hit.
The second goal did not come in the first quarter. Bangladesh won a penalty corner in the 12th minute, but goalkeeper Suraj Karkera kicked away Amirul Islam’s drag-flick. In the 15th minute Bangladesh used a video referral to overturn a penalty corner given to India.
Abhishek was helped off by the physio soon after but later came back on.
The drizzle turned to heavy rain at the start of the second quarter. In the 22nd minute Mandeep Singh was blocked inside the circle and India won a penalty corner. Jugraj Singh’s drag-flick hit the foot of a defender on the post, the umpire gave a penalty stroke, and Jugraj scored it for 2-0.
Mandeep won another penalty corner in the 27th minute after collecting an aerial ball in the circle. Harmanpreet flicked it in to make it 3-0 at half-time.
Five goals in the third quarter
Dilpreet Singh and Sukhjeet Singh exchanged quick passes to get past the goalkeeper in the 32nd minute, and Sukhjeet tapped into an open goal for 4-0.
Sukhjeet nearly scored again in the 37th minute after a move with Shilanand, and a minute later Harmanpreet’s aerial flick from a penalty corner went just wide.
Vivek Sagar Prasad won the penalty corner that brought the fifth goal in the 40th minute, Harmanpreet drag-flicking it in. Shilanand then scored in the 44th and 45th minutes to make it 7-0.
India won another penalty corner in the 45th minute, and Harmanpreet completed his hat-trick with a flick that went through the legs of the first rusher. India led 8-0 at the end of the third quarter.
Sanjay and Mandeep take India into double figures
The rain got heavier in the final quarter and both teams made unforced errors on the waterlogged pitch.
Sanjay scored India’s ninth in the penultimate minute with an aerial drag-flick from a penalty corner. In the 60th minute Sukhjeet’s shot was blocked by the goalkeeper after a defensive mistake, and Mandeep put away the rebound to make it 10-0.
India meet Pakistan in the semi-final on October 1. Read our report on India’s earlier 8-2 win over South Korea.
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