Bhubaneswar: An impressive India thrashed Canada 5-1 to top Pool C and seal a direct berth in the quarterfinals of the men’s hockey World Cup in front of a capacity crowd at the Kalinga Stadium here on Saturday.
India scored four goals in the fourth quarter through Chinglensana Singh (46th minute), Lalit Upadhyay (47th, 57th) and Amit Rohidas (51st) after Harmanpreet Singh gave home team the lead in the 12th minute. Canada’s lone goal came from the sticks of Floris van Son in the 39th minute.
By virtue of this win, India finished on top of Pool C with seven points ahead of world no.3 Belgium on account of better goal difference.
Belgium, too on seven points, finished second ahead of third placed Canada after thrashing South Africa 5-1 in the other Pool C game earlier in the day. South Africa crashed out of the tournament.
While India qualified directly for the quarterfinals by being the toppers, Belgium and Canada will play in the cross-overs for a place in the last-eight round.
Canada too overcame South Africa by virtue of a better goal difference. Both the teams finished their pool engagements with one point apiece. India will play their quarterfinal match on December 13.
Earlier in the day, Olympic silver medallist Belgium outclassed South Africa 5-1 in their last pool game.
Alexander Hendrickx (14th, 22nd minutes) scored a brace while Simon Gougnard (18th), Loick Luypaert (30th) and Cedric Charlier (48th) were the other goal-scorer for Belgium. South Africa, on the other hand, had stunned the world no.3 side just 36 seconds from the start through Nicholas Spooner’s field strike.
