Bhubaneshwar: Mandeep Singh struck twice as a below-par India struggled past minnows Russia 4-2 in the first-leg of the two-match hockey Olympic qualifier here yesterday. Mandeep (24th, 53rd minutes) scored two field goals while Harmanpreet Singh (5th) and SV Sunil (48th) also hit the target for India. It was an expected to be a David v Goliath contest but World No. 22 Russia dished out a fighting effort.

Russia look threatening

World No. 5 India still can't breathe easy as Russia could create an upset in the second and final match on Saturday. The aggregate winner at the end of the two-match qualifier will seal its place for the 2020 Tokyo Games. India were dominant, but it was far from a cakewalk for the hosts as two minutes later, Sreejesh was forced to make another save before the Russians won a penalty corner. However, the chance went wasted because of a miss-trap at the top of the circle from Iaroslav Loginov.