India score first win in World Cup

Kuala Lumpur:

India, under a new coach after Cedric D'Souza was sacked earlier in the day, trounced lowly Cuba 4-0 to record their first win in the 10th World Cup hockey here today. On a day when the removal of chief coach D'Souza overshadowed action on the turf, the Indians, who lost three of their first four matches and drew one, played a positive game and outplayed the Cubans. India, who led 3-0 at the break through goals from Dilip Tirkey, Daljit Singh and Deepak Thakur, could only score one more in the second half when skipper Baljit Singh Dhillon got the fourth. Cuba tried hard, knowing that India were low on confidence, but couldn't get past a determined Indian defence. In other matches in Pool B, Australia virtually ensured a semi-final berth when they beat Japan 5-0. The shocking result was South Africaa€™s 2-2 draw with Spain in Pool A. With Spain's draw, Pool A is now completely open. Four teams - Germany, Pakistan, Spain and Holland a€" are in the reckoning to make the last four grade. (PTI)