Indian forwards dished out a goal feast as the defending champions routed a hapless Thailand 16-0 to register their second consecutive win in a Pool A match of the women's Asia Cup hockey tournament in Hong Kong on Monday.
Riding on her enviable form, Surinder Kaur pumped in five goals while captain Mamta Kharab struck home thrice. Ritu Rani, Jasjeet Kaur and Saba Anjum netted a brace each and Suman Bala and Rajwinder Kaur scored a goal apiece to complete the onslaught on the Thai team.
At the Kings Park, India's 16-0 victory over the 55th ranked Thailand was another tournament record, bettering China's 15-0 yesterday against Singapore.
The Indian girls showed deft touches in moving forward as a unit and in converting penalty corners.
Several goals came from very well taken reverse stick flicks and hits. Especially, Surinder and Ritu's reverse stick prowess was spectacular while scoring in the 52nd and 55th minutes respectively.
India's four penalty corner conversions did not come from powerful hits but rather from clever variations inside the Thai circle.
The holders cruised to a 5-0 lead at the interval and then improved their performance by a few notches in the second half to score 11 goals more.
The Thais to their credit never stopped trying with several runs at the rival goal in the closing minutes of the game with Ompimol Kititeerasopon and Pannipha Phanin playing prominent roles.
In their next outing, India will meet Singapore on Wednesday.
