India Smash Bangladesh 13-0 as Mandeep’s Hat-Trick Lights Up Jalandhar
Thirteen goals. No reply. India couldn’t have asked for a louder start to their title defence. The hosts beat Bangladesh 13-0 at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar on Tuesday night, in front of a home crowd that barely had time to settle before the scoring started. The opening ceremony, with Punjabi singer Ninja headlining and Bhangra, Gidha and Gatka on show, pushed the start back to 6:50pm PKT, but once the hockey began there was only one team in it.
Harmanpreet Singh needed less than two minutes. The captain converted the first penalty corner of the night, a drag-flick helped on by a deflection, and India were away. Mandeep Singh doubled the lead in the fourth minute, Harmanpreet’s through ball finding him unmarked, and by the tenth minute Mandeep had his second, tapping in after Harmanpreet’s long aerial found Abhishek, who beat two defenders and squared it across. That was the pattern all night. India moved the ball fast, Bangladesh chased it, and the goals kept coming from everywhere. Shilanand Lakra made it 4-0 in the 15th minute, finishing at the far post after Aditya Lalage and Sukhjeet Singh broke two-on-one. Abhishek scored himself in the 18th, Nilakanta Sharma finished low through the keeper’s legs in the 26th, and India went in 6-0 at half-time. They were 8-0 up by the 45th minute and 10-0 by the 55th, and still they didn’t ease off. Dilpreet Singh and Hardik Singh scored twice each, Jugraj Singh got one, and Mandeep completed his hat-trick, the last goal coming off a slick combination between Mandeep and Hardik. Thirteen of India’s 18 shots on target went in. That’s not a team taking its foot off the gas. That’s a team sending a message.
For Mandeep, it was a night to remember in his own backyard. Mandeep played like a man who knew every inch of it. His movement off the ball was the difference early on, twice finding space where Bangladesh thought there wasn’t any.
Bangladesh deserve some sympathy here. They only came into this tournament late, after Pakistan withdrew, and they walked straight into the defending champions, in front of the champions’ home crowd, on opening night. They’d already lost 10-0 to this same India side at last month’s Asian Games, and this was harder still. Nobody in that Bangladesh dressing room will have enjoyed it, but the experience of playing a full-strength India in a packed stadium is the kind of night that teaches a young side more than a comfortable win ever would.
India, meanwhile, had to do it without Manpreet Singh, ruled out with a calf injury picked up in training, with Vivek Sagar Prasad stepping into the squad. They didn’t miss a beat. Harmanpreet led from the front, Hardik ran the midfield, and the finishing was ruthless from the first minute to the last.
This was India’s chase for a sixth Asian Champions Trophy title getting off to the perfect start. They’ve won this tournament five times, in 2011, 2016, 2018 in a shared title with Pakistan, and in 2023 and 2024, and they’re chasing a third straight crown. On this evidence, they’ll take some stopping, though the real tests are still to come. Bangladesh were never going to be the team that told us how good this India side is. China, on Thursday, might tell us a bit more.
Day one had already given the tournament two thrillers before India took the pitch. Malaysia edged China 5-4 in the opener, and Japan beat South Korea 3-2. India’s 13-0 made it 27 goals in three games on the first day. Not a bad start to a week of hockey.
Wednesday is a rest day. India are back on Thursday night against China at 6:30pm PKT, then Japan on Friday, Malaysia on Sunday and South Korea next Monday, all in the evening slot in Jalandhar. The top four reach the semifinals in Mohali on 4 November, with the medal games on 5 November. For our money, India have already done the hard part. They’ve got three points, a goal difference nobody else can touch, and a crowd right behind them. Now it’s about keeping that level when the opposition gets better, and Thursday is where we’ll start to find out.
Related links:
https://sportscursor.com/asian-champions-trophy-2026-day-1-results-malaysia-5-4-china-japan-3-2-korea-27-october-2026/
https://sportscursor.com/asian-champions-trophy-2026-day-1-malaysia-china-japan-korea-india-bangladesh-27-october-2026/
https://sportscursor.com/asian-champions-trophy-eve-harmanpreet-every-team-here-to-win-26-october-2026/
https://sportscursor.com/manpreet-singh-ruled-out-asian-champions-trophy-vivek-sagar-prasad-26-october-2026/
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