India rout Belgium 7-1 in a friendly

Cologne, Germany, Aug 30 (UNI) Skipper Dilip Tirkey led the charge as India gave a heart-warming display to rout Belgium 7-1 -- thereby avenging an earlier defeat -- in their second friendly game here, as preparatory to the hockey World Cup.

The Indians had been shocked 1-3 by the Belgians in their first friendly.

For the winners, who led 2-1 at the breather, the goal scorers were Dilip Tirkey (two) Ignace Tirkey, Shivendra Singh, Tushar Khandekar, Gagan Ajit Singh and Hari Prasad (one each).

Putting behind the surprise first match defeat, India displayed fast and tactical game to outplay their rivals in all departments of the game.

Though the Indians dominated the game, they made heavy weather of their 2-1 lead in the first session with Dilip Tirkey and Ignace Tirkey scoring a goal each.

Tirkey converted a penalty corner once in each half while playing an outstandig role in the defence.

It was only in the second half that the Indians demolished their rival defence and pumped in five goals. They could have increased the victory margin but for the muffed chances.

Indians will be playing another friendly against Japan on September 2 at Monchengladbach, the venue of the World Cup.

Meanwhile, the Indian team managment is still struggling to find the replacement for ace drag flicker Sandeep Singh who was injured in an accidental firing on board a train last week.

Three players -- R Raghunath, Vikramjit Singh and Jugraj Singh -- have been sent along with the 15-member Indian squad and the team managment is likely to pick one among the three to fill for Sandeep Singh's slot.

The World Cup is slated to be played from September 6 to 17.

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