Indian Colts put 22 goals past USA in Sultan of Johor Cup

Indian hockey colts whipped United States 22-0 and claimed their third consecutive win at the seventh Sultan of Johor Cup on Monday in Johor Bahru, their first tournament as junior world champions.

Even in the senior tournaments, the India-USA game in hockey turns out to be the most lopsided matchups. The outcome of today's match was reminiscent of the senior team's 24-1 beating at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics and the 16-0 at the 1956 games. 

As early as the second minute, Pratap Lakra opened the scoring which was followed by Harmanjit Singh’s five goals. Further, Abhishek and Dilpreet Singh scored three goals each. 10 Indian players got their names on the scoresheet.

In the earlier games, India defeated Japan 3-2 on Sunday in the tournament opener and then beat hosts Malaysia 2-1 in the second match on Monday. 

India will be playing against Australia tomorrow, followed by the last pool game against Great Britain in the six-team tournament on Saturday.

In 2015, the Indian team were runners-up of the tournament.