Hockey Asia Cup: Indian eves rout Kazakhstan 7-1 to reach semi-finals

India continued their rich goalscoring form in the Asia Cup tournament as they inflicted a heavy 7-1 defeat on Kazakhstan and progressed to the semi-finals of the tournament being played in Japan.

Gurjit Kaur, who found the back of the net in each of the team's win in the group stages, smashed a hat-trick. Navneet Kaur and Deep Grace Ekka, who have also impressed so far, bagged two goals each.

Coming into the game on the back of three commanding wins in the group stages, India were put on the backfoot by Kazakhstan, who went into the lead in just the second minute of the game with Vera Domashneva scoring a field goal.

However, India equalised just two minutes later with Gurjit converting a penalty corner. The India side, then, ran riot in the second quarter, where they scored three goals.

It was Ekka who put her side in the lead as India were on target again from another penalty corner. As the first half drew to a close, Navneet Kaur gave her side a three-goal cushion through twin strikes in the space of five minutes.