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Summary India, France and Poland scored victories in the Olympic men's qualifying tournament.
Penalty-corner specialist Sandeep Singh scored three goals as India thrashed Italy 8-1 for their second successive win in the Olympic mens qualifying tournament in New Delhi on Sunday.In other matches, Martin Genestet fired in five goals, including a hat-trick, in Frances 9-0 victory over inexperienced Singapore while Poland posted a surprise 3-2 win over higher-ranked Canada.In the womens section, striker Alessia Doriana Padalino scored the competitions first hat-trick as Italy beat Poland 4-1 in the opening match of the day while South Africa beat Ukraine 2-0 and India downed Canada 4-1.One team from each section will qualify for the London Olympics.India, who failed to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, reduced their match to a no-contest when they gained a 6-1 lead at half-time, with Sandeep scoring three goals in the space of 19 minutes.S. V. Sunil scored two and Gurwinder Singh Chandi, V. R. Raghunath and Shivendra Singh each found the target once for the hosts, while Alessandro Nanni scored for Italy.Polands captain Dariusz Rachwalski converted a penalty-corner in the closing minute against 14th-ranked Canada to help his team register the first win in two matches.Poland, ranked 19th, dominated the opening session to gain a 2-0 lead through Mateusz Poltaszewski and Artur Mikula.Canada came back strongly in the second half as Iain Smythe and Sukhwinder Singh scored field goals to restore parity before Rachwalski struck the winner for Poland.France faced no difficulty in registering their second successive win as they struck five times in the first half, with Genestet leading the goal spree.Sebastien Jean-Jean scored two goals while Simon Martin-Brisac and Fabien Magner one apiece.South Africa, ranked 12th in the womens section and top contenders for the Olympic berth, found the target through prolific scorer Pietie Coetzee and Dirkie Chamberlain for their second successive win.India, unimpressive during a 1-1 draw against Ukraine on Saturday, put in a better show against Canada and scored through Soundarya Yendala, Rani Rampal, Sushila Chanu and Anuradha Devi.
