India thrashed Hong Kong while China blanked Oman. Japan fought back after conceding an early goal to defeat Bangladesh 3-1, and Malaysia beat Singapore 3-0 in the opening day’s action.
Sandeep Singh converted two penalty corners as India, silver medalists behind world champions Australia in last month’s Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, toyed with lowly Hong Kong.
Singh scored both goals in the first half after Bharat Kumar had put India ahead in the second minute of the group B encounter.
Sarvanjit Singh gave the Indians a 4-0 lead by half-time, which was extended after resumption through goals from Tushar Khandekar, Arjun Halappa, and Shivendra Singh.
India is hoping to avoid the humiliation they suffered at the Doha Asiad four years ago where they went without a medal and subsequently failed to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The winner—and possibly the runners-up—in the 10-nation tournament in Guangzhou will earn a direct entry to the 2012 London Olympics.
India’s Spanish coach Jose Brasa said the easy win helped his team get acclimatized to what he described as difficult playing conditions.
“It was not easy to play on this pitch as the ball bounced more than usual,” said Brasa. “It was also difficult to control the ball during penalty corners.
“We need to get used to all this before the tougher matches since we did not get to play any practice match after reaching Guangzhou.”
India next plays Bangladesh on Wednesday, ahead of the high-voltage clash against Pakistan on Saturday and the last league match against Japan on Sunday.
Liu Yixian slammed a hat-trick as China took a 4-0 lead by half-time and then pumped in three more goals after the break to outplay Oman in group A.
Bangladesh stung Japan with a ninth-minute goal from Krishno Kumir, but crumbled under pressure in the second half.
Japan scored thrice in the space of 21 minutes through Takahiko Yamabori, Katsuyoshi Nagasawa, and Kazuyuki Ozawa to earn full points from the group B match.
Meanwhile, Malaysia secured victory over Singapore in group A through three first-half goals from Hafifihafiz Hanafi, Azlan Misron, and Abd Rahim.
