Defending champions India began their campaign in the men's Junior Asia Cup hockey tournament with a bang with an emphatic 18-0 win over Chinese Taipei at the Sultan Qaboos Youth Complex here on Wednesday. The Indian team continued to be successful in breaking through Chinese Taipei's defense and scoring goals.

Arjit Singh Hundal (19th, 29th, 30th, 59th minutes) and Amandeep (38th, 39th, 41st minutes) scored hat-tricks for India while Bobby Singh Dhami (10th and 46th minutes), Aditya Arjun Lalage (37th and 39th) minute) and captain Uttam Singh (10th and 59th minutes) also scored two goals each. Sharda Nand Tiwari (11th), Angad Bir Singh (37th), Amir Ali (51st), Bobby Poovanna Chandura (54th) and Yogmar Rawat (60th) also scored a goal each to make it a one-sided encounter for Pool A.

India will next take on Japan on Thursday, while the team will take on arch-rivals Pakistan on Saturday and Thailand on Sunday. India will aim to win the tournament here and qualify for the Junior World Cup to be held later this year. The top three finishers in the tournament will qualify for the Junior World Cup to be held in Malaysia in December. 

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