Muscat: Defending champions India sealed their place in the semi-finals of the men's Junior Asia Cup hockey tournament with a thumping 16-0 win over Chinese Taipei on Saturday. Dilraj Singh led the Indian attack with four goals while Roshan Kujur and Saurabh Anand Kushwaha scored hat-tricks. The dominance of the Indian players can be gauged from the fact that they did not give any chance to Chinese Taipei.

Indian team reached the semi-finals.

The team coached by coach PR Sreejesh is ahead of Japan (six) with nine points in Pool A and has qualified for the last four with one match remaining in the pool stage. India will face Korea in its last group match on December 1, while the semi-finals will be held on December 3. India started cautiously in this match. Yogambar Rawat gave India the lead by scoring a goal in the seventh minute.

India took a 5-0 lead in the second quarter.

In the second quarter, Saurabh Kushwaha (20th, 28th), Dilraj Singh (17th), and Roshan Kujur (23rd) put India ahead 5-0 by the half-time. The Indian team completely dominated the third quarter and scored eight goals in 15 minutes. Kujur completed his hat-trick by scoring in the 32nd and 42nd minutes, while Dilraj scored two more goals in the 40th and 45th minutes. Arshdeep Singh (37th, 44th), Priyabarta Talem (31st) and Sharda Nand Tiwari (39th) scored goals to give India a strong lead.

Arijeet Singh Hundal (54th) continued India's dominance with a goal in the last quarter while Dilraj scored his fourth goal in the 57th minute. Chinese Taipei'sdefensee completely collapsed in this match, their goalkeeper Tin-Shou made some brilliant saves, otherwise India's margin of victory would have been bigger.

Team India is the defending champion.

The tournament will also serve as a qualifier for next year's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup, which will be hosted by India. The top six teams from the tournament will qualify, but as hosts, India have already secured their place. The seventh-placed team will also earn a spot. India has been the most successful team in the history of the Junior Asia Cup with four titles (2004, 2008, 2015, and 2023).