15-May-2009 103
Tushar Khandekar pumped in two late goals as defending champion India routed Japan 5-1 to finish a lowly fifth in the seven-nation Asia Cup hockey tournament at Kuantan (Malaysia) today.
Khandekar (64th, 69th minutes) found the net twice for India, while Rajpal Singh (second), skipper Sandeep Singh (21st) and Prabhjot Singh (66th) scored a goal each for the winner. Sakamoto Hiroki (31st) was the lone scorer for Japan.
Though Japan had an upper hand in the exchange of passes and attack in the initial stages of the match, India found the net at will, scoring twice in the first half and thrice in the last six minutes of the second session.
Irrespective of the scoreline, India seemed nowhere near the best and its defence looked always under pressure.
