Asian Games 2026: Dilpreet Singh shines as Indian men's hockey continues dominant run, beats South Korea

Dilpreet Singh was the star of the show for India with a hat-trick of goals, continuing his incredible form in the tournament. So far, India has a 13-1 win over Indonesia and a dominant 16-1 win over Sri Lanka. They have matches against Japan (September 26) and Bangladesh (September 28) still to go. Defending champions India will be eyeing a clean sweep in the group stage in their bid to retain their gold for the first time and seal a direct spot in Los Angeles Olympics 2028.

The Indian men's hockey team continued their fine run at the ongoing Asian Games with an 8-2 win over South Korea on Thursday. Dilpreet Singh was the star of the show for India with a hat-trick of goals, continuing his incredible form in the tournament. So far, India has a 13-1 win over Indonesia and a dominant 16-1 win over Sri Lanka. They have matches against Japan (September 26) and Bangladesh (September 28) still to go. Defending champions India will be eyeing a clean sweep in the group stage in their bid to retain their gold for the first time and seal a direct spot in the Los Angeles Olympics 2028.

Shailanand Lakra opened the scoring for India in the fourth minute, after a pass from Abhishek was blocked and went to Shailanand on the rebound, who put India ahead. Dilpreet Singh, one of India's standout performers in the tournament so far, secured his name of the scoring sheet with a fierce hit from the centre, which hit the goalie and went in. India was 2-0 up in the ninth minute courtesy of poor defending from South Korea.

The first penalty corner of the match went to Indian skipper Harmanpreet Singh, and he gleefully converted it to put India 3-0 ahead in the 11th minute. Abhishek ended the first quarter with a fantastic goal, getting help from Shailanand. At the end of quarter one, India was up 4-0.

There were initially no goals in the second quarter, with India playing some aerial balls. However, Dilpreet found the net again in the 26th minute, collecting a pass from Manpreet and deflecting it past the keeper. South Korea struggled to create chances as India ended the first half at 5-0. In the 32nd minute, Dilpreet made a hat-trick, using a quick pass from Rajinder and unleashing a tomahawk.

Meanwhile, India won multiple penalty corners but failed to convert, and it was Abhishek who fired the seventh. It was a total team set-up, courtesy of multiple passes leading up to the goal. Sukhjeet Singh's shot was saved, and South Korea managed to put the ball away, but it went to Abhishek, who wasted no time in scoring. In the 42nd minute, Kim Jaeho made sure South Korea had some presence on the scoring sheet. The third quarter ended 7-1 in favour of India.

In the 52nd minute, South Korea had their second goal courtesy of Kim Yongbok. Rajinder ended the match with a last-minute goal for India. (ANI)