Boby Singh Dhami scored a hat-trick for the Indian Junior Men’s Hockey Team
New Delhi, 1st June, 2023: The Indian Junior Men’s Hockey Team stormed into the Final of the Men’s Junior Asia Cup 2023 when they defeated Korea 9-1 in the first Semi-Final in Salalah, Oman on Wednesday. For the Indian Junior Men’s Hockey Team the scorers were Sunit Lakra (13’), Araijeet Singh Hundal (19’), Boby Singh Dhami (31’, 39’, 55’), Angad Bir Singh (34’), Captain Uttam Singh (38’), Vishnukant Singh (51’), Sharda Nand Tiwari (57’). Meanwhile for Korea it was Keonyeol Hwang (46’) who scored the only goal.
In the early exchanges, it was the Koreans who looked more dangerous; however, they came up against a well-organised Indian defensive unit, that absorbed the pressure well. Just after the half-way mark in the quarter, the Indian Junior Men’s Hockey started to go through the gears, pushing Korea back into their half, with a couple of attacks originating from the right. With a couple of minutes left in the first quarter, Sunit Lakra (13’) smashed it into the net, giving India a 1-0 lead against Korea at the break.
Both sides began the second phase well, matching each other toe to toe in the early exchanges, before the Indian Colts doubled the lead. Araijeet Singh Hundal (19’) found himself in space inside the area and finished masterfully from close range. From then on in, the Koreans kept looking for a way to goal, but India’s defenders kept them at arm’s length. Meanwhile, the Uttam Singh-led side almost added a third goal but went into the half-time break leading the Semi-Final 2-0.