Asian Games 2026: India rout Uzbekistan 19-0 and down Indonesia 13-1 in hockey openers
India's men's and women's hockey teams opened their Asian Games 2026 campaigns on September 20 at the Asian Games 2026, the women defeating Uzbekistan 19-0 and the men beating Indonesia 13-1. Deepika scored eight goals in the women's fixture while Dilpreet Singh contributed four for the men's side.
The results addressed a concern from India's disappointing World Cup campaign last month, when converting from open play had been difficult; in the men's match 10 of the 13 goals came from field play. Both teams relied heavily on scoring throughout their openers, with individual hauls — Deepika's eight and Dilpreet's four — defining the margins.
Indonesia defended resolutely in the opening quarter of the men's game and frustrated India early, but the first two Indian goals arrived from rebounds inside the circle, Shilanand opening the scoring before Abhishek doubled the lead. Craig Fulton's side then accelerated in the second quarter, scoring four times in a three-minute burst, and captain Harmanpreet added a drag-flick with two minutes remaining in that period.
Indonesia found a rare breakthrough in the third quarter after Sumit failed to control an aerial pass in the 33rd minute, conceding a penalty corner that Aulia Al Ardh converted for their side's first-ever goal against India. That strike ended a sequence in which Indonesia had previously failed to score in three meetings with India, having conceded a combined 40 goals without reply.
Deepika's eight-goal haul in the women's match came in the 8th, 22nd, 26th, 33rd, 37th, 38th, 41st and 54th minutes and included six successful penalty-corner conversions. Ishika Chaudhary added three goals to complete a hat-trick, and Lalremsiami, Baljeet Kaur, Neha, Navneet Kaur, Lalthantluangi and Sakshi Rana also scored.
The women's scoring began inside six minutes when Lalremsiami squeezed the ball home to break the deadlock, Deepika then doubling the lead with what the report records as her 40th international goal. Sunelita Toppo created the opening for Ishika's goal, Baljeet Kaur marked her 50th appearance for India, and goalkeeper Savita Punia made her 320th international appearance, taking her level with Vandana Katariya as the most-capped player in Indian women's hockey.
India's women recorded 66 circle penetrations and 62 per cent possession in the match; they led 8-0 at halftime, scored eight times in the third quarter to move to 16-0, and added three more in the final quarter to complete a 19-0 opening victory. The men's team will now turn their attention to Sri Lanka, with their next Pool B match scheduled for Tuesday, and the women's side will next face Indonesia in Pool B on Monday.