London: Ramandeep Singh scored twice as India thrashed Scotland 4-1 to start their campaign at the Hockey World League (HWL) Semi-Final on a rousing note here on Thursday.
Ramandeep (31st, 34th minutes) scored the field goals just after half-time to give India the upper hand in the Pool B match.
Striker Akashdeep Singh scored another field goal in the 40th minute before Harmanpreet Singh (42nd) powered in a penalty corner to drive home the advantage.
Scotland captain Chris Grassic gave his team the lead in the seventh minute to put India under early pressure.
In Pool A, Argentina beat South Korea 2-1.
The experienced Gonzalo Peillat (26th, 53rd) conveted two penalty corners while Lee Namyong scored a field goal for the Koreans in the 46th minute.
The first quarter belonged to underdogs Scotland who displayed good attacking skills to put India on the backfoot. They held on to the ball possession for a greater part of the first quarter, keeping the Indians in the hunt.
While Scottish goalkeeper Thomas Alexander was impressive with his saves, it was skipper Grassick who got an early lead for his team with a splendid deflection that beat Indian custodian Vikas Dahiya.
It was a baseline pass by Kenny Bain picked up by Grassick perfectly to stun the Indians.
Both teams slowed down the pace just a little bit in the second quarter. India played cautiously, rotating the ball only to make well-calculated entries into the striking circle.
India’s marquee midfielder Sardar Singh was in the centre of action with some impressive dribbling, trying to make space in the circle.