Hoping to recreate history after 43 years, hosts India started their hockey World Cup campaign on a rousing note, blanking South Africa 5-0 in their opening Pool C match in front of a packed Kalinga Stadium here on Wednesday.
World number five India are eyeing to reclaim the World Cup after 43 years, a title which they won only once way back in 1975 in Kuala Lumpur.
Simranjeet Singh (43rd, 46th minutes) scored a brace, while Mandeep Singh (10th), Akashdeep Singh (12th) and Lalit Upadhyay (45th) were the other goal getters for India against a South Africa, ranked 10 places below India.
The Indians toyed with the South African defence in the first quarter as they mounted numerous attacks on the opposition goal and to their credit succeeded on two occasions to take a comfortable 2-0 lead early on.
India's first chance came in the third minute when skipper Manpreet Singh found an unmarked Mandeep alone inside the box with a defence-splitting pass but the striker failed to get his stick to the ball.
But India took the lead soon when Mandeep scored from a rebound in the 10th minute from the hosts' first penalty corner.
It was Mandeep who earned the penalty corner for India after beautifully controlling a long scoop from Harmanpreet Singh. He then found himself at the right place at the right time to slot home after Harmanpreet's high flick was saved by South Africa goalkeeper Rassie Pieterse.
Three minutes later, India doubled their lead through Akashdeep, who scored after the ball fell in front of his stick from a deflection of Simranjit Singh.
The Indians kept up the pressure on South African defence in the second quarter and secured their second short corner in the 19th minute but failed to utilise the chance as they went for a variation.
Just two minutes from half time, Nilkanta Sharma and Sumit combined well to create a great opportunity for India but the former missed the goal from close range.
Leading by a comfortable two goals, India continued in the same vein after the change of ends and scored two more beautiful field goals in the third quarter. India got their third penalty corner in the 34th minute but wasted the chance.
South Africa showed glimpses of a comeback thereafter and came close to scoring in the 40th minute but an alert Indian custodian P R Sreejesh came out of his line to deny Richard Pautz.
Minutes later, South Africa had another opportunity when they earned their first penalty corner but to no avail.
India scored three fine field goals in a span of four minutes to take the match out of South Africa's reach.
Simranjeet scored his first goal in the 43rd minute by tapping in after Mandeep dribbled past a few South African defenders to set it up for his strike mate.
Then, a diving Lalit deflected in a diagonal pass from Akashdeep before Simranjeet was once again at the thick of things, scoring his second of the day from India's fourth penalty corner.
The Indians wasted another opportunity in the form of their fifth penalty corner but hardly broke their sweat in getting past South Africa.
India will next play world number 3 Belgium on December 2, while South Africa will be up against Canada on the same day.
‘Akash was lethal in role’
An out-and-out striker, Akashdeep Singh excelled in the role of a linkman in India's hockey World Cup opener against South Africa and chief coach Harendra Singh on Wednesday said the forward was used in a new position because of his terrific peripheral vision.
Akashdeep impressed all and sundry in his new role as linkman by not only setting up a goal for Lalit Upadhyay but also scoring one in India's 5-0 rout of South Africa in their Pool C opener. Asked about Akashdeep's performance, Harendra said: "He (Akashdeep) has very good peripheral vision and so we used him little down from his usual position as linkman. He is lethal as a linkman and we have three strikers floating inside the circle.
"If you go back 15 years, Dhanraj (Pillay) changed his role from the 2002 World Cup. He became a playmaker and Deepak (Thakur) and Prabhjot (Singh) scored. I am very happy with Akash. He is taking the lead. In every department we have a leader. I hope we continue that way throughout the tournament," the visibly delighted coach added.
Harendra said keeping a clean slate was the most positive outcome from Wednesday's game.
"The match sheet, which is clean, is a positive sign. It means defence, i.e. All 11 for them, played well. They came out and snatched the ball at the right moment, didn't throw their sticks," he said.