The hosts made a ruthless start to their title defence at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium, scoring from the second minute and never letting Bangladesh into the match.

Mandeep Singh hat-trick leads eight scorers

Eight Indian players scored in the one-sided win. Mandeep Singh led the way with a hat-trick, scoring in the third minute, the 10th minute and the 54th minute. Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored twice, in the second and 44th minutes, while Dilpreet Singh scored in the 43rd and 44th minutes and Hardik Singh scored twice in the 60th minute.

Shilanand Lakra scored in the 15th minute, Abhishek in the 18th minute, Nilakanta Sharma in the 26th minute and Jugraj Singh in the 46th minute. India, the defending champions of the tournament, are once again counted among the strongest contenders for the title.

Bangladesh entered as a replacement side

Bangladesh had not been due to take part in the tournament, but were included as a replacement after Pakistan withdrew. Pakistan cited security concerns, had asked for their matches to be shifted out of India, and pulled out after Asian Hockey rejected that demand.

On the opening day, India finished at the top of the standings with three points and a goal difference of plus 13. In the other matches on day one, Malaysia beat China 5-4, while Japan beat South Korea 3-2.

Six teams, single round-robin format

Six teams are taking part in the tournament, played in a single round-robin format in which every team plays each of the other five teams once. At the end of the league stage, the top four teams will qualify for the semifinals.

The format leaves little room for a slip, and India's big opening win has already given them a strong goal difference advantage over their rivals for a semifinal place.

Schedule ahead for India

India's next match is against China on 29 October. The league schedule keeps 28 October as a rest day. All league matches will be played in Jalandhar till 2 November.

The tournament will then shift to the Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium in Mohali, where the semifinals will be played on 4 November and the bronze medal and gold medal matches on 5 November.