India dominated Hong Kong, while China overwhelmed Oman. Japan overcame an early setback to beat Bangladesh 3-1, and Malaysia defeated Singapore 3-0 in the opening matches.
Sandeep Singh converted two penalty corners, leading India, silver medalists behind Australia at the recent Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, to easily defeat Hong Kong.
Singh scored twice in the first half after Bharat Kumar opened the scoring in the second minute of the group B match.
Sarvanjit Singh extended India’s lead to 4-0 by halftime, with further goals from Tushar Khandekar, Arjun Halappa, and Shivendra Singh in the second half.
India aims to avoid the disappointment of the Doha Asiad four years ago, where they left without a medal and missed qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The top team, and potentially the second-place team, in the 10-nation tournament in Guangzhou will secure a spot in the 2012 London Olympics.
India’s coach, Jose Brasa, noted that the victory helped the team adjust to challenging playing conditions.
“The pitch was difficult as the ball bounced unusually high,” Brasa said. “Controlling penalty corners was also challenging.
“We need to adapt before tougher games since we had no practice matches in Guangzhou.”
India’s next matches are against Bangladesh on Wednesday, a high-stakes game against Pakistan on Saturday, and a final league match against Japan on Sunday.
Liu Yixian scored a hat-trick for China, leading them to a 4-0 halftime advantage and adding three more goals after the break to defeat Oman in group A.
Bangladesh surprised Japan with a ninth-minute goal from Krishno Kumir but faltered in the second half.
Japan scored three times in 21 minutes through Takahiko Yamabori, Katsuyoshi Nagasawa, and Kazuyuki Ozawa, securing full points in group B.
Meanwhile, Malaysia triumphed over Singapore in group A with first-half goals by Hafifihafiz Hanafi, Azlan Misron, and Abd Rahim.
