The Indian hockey team began its Asian Champions Trophy 2026 title defence with a commanding 13-0 victory over Bangladesh at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar on Tuesday.
Mandeep Singh (3′, 10′, 54′) scored a hat-trick while captain Harmanpreet Singh (2′, 44′), Dilpreet Singh (43′, 44′) and Hardik Singh (60′, 60′) struck twice each.
Shilanand Lakra (15′), Abhishek (18′), Nilakanta Sharma (26′) and Jugraj Singh (46′) were also on the scoresheet for the five-time champions.
India, who successfully defended their Asian Games hockey title earlier this month, will face the People’s Republic of China in their next match on Thursday.
Playing in front of a home crowd as international hockey returned to Punjab, India needed little time to stamp their authority on the contest.
Mandeep earned India an early penalty corner and Harmanpreet converted it to open the scoring in the second minute.
A minute later, Harmanpreet turned provider. His pass found Mandeep inside the circle and the Indian forward made space before firing past the Bangladesh goalkeeper to double the advantage.
Mandeep scored his second in the 10th minute, finishing first-time after some excellent work by Abhishek.
India continued to dominate possession and added a fourth just before the end of the opening quarter, with Shilanand getting the final touch following a flowing attacking move.
Abhishek made it 5-0 early in the second quarter. Having started the move himself, the Indian forward received the ball back from Mandeep inside the circle and calmly found the target.
Nilakanta then joined the action in the 26th minute. After receiving Abhishek’s pass from the right, the midfielder unleashed a reverse hit past goalkeeper Ashraful Shad as India went into half-time leading 6-0.
Bangladesh initially managed to slow India’s charge for much of the third quarter but the hosts struck three times in quick succession towards the end of the period.
Dilpreet converted the rebound after a Harmanpreet drag-flick was blocked in the 43rd minute before adding another moments later with a powerful reverse hit from a superb pass from the Indian skipper.
Harmanpreet then converted another penalty corner in the 44th minute to take India’s tally to nine.
Jugraj made it 10-0 from a penalty corner seconds into the final quarter before Mandeep completed his hat-trick in the 54th minute, converting Sanjay’s pass from close range.
Hardik scored twice in the closing stages to complete the 13-0 win and give India a winning start to their quest for a record-extending sixth Asian Champions Trophy hockey title.
Following the match, Nilakanta Sharma announced that he will retire from international hockey after the conclusion of the Asian Champions Trophy.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medallist, who scored India’s sixth goal of the night, made his 163rd international appearance on Tuesday.
read more: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/asian-champions-trophy-2026-hockey-india-vs-bangladesh-report
