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New Delhi: India routed Brunei Darussalam 6-O in an AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers in Doha but couldn't qualify for the main round.
With two wins in three matches, India finished their group stage commitments with six points but Qatar's 2-1 win over Bahrain on Tuesday meant India finished as the fifth-best team among group runner-ups, when only the four best second-best teams (from 11 groups) qualified.
Qatar topped India's group with a maximum nine points from nine games, three above India.
In their final group match at the Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium, Vibin Mohanan was the star for India, scoring a hat-trick (5', 7', 62') ), while his Kerala Blasters team-mate Mohammed Aimen (87', 90+7') scored a brace.
Ayush Chhetri (41') completed the scoreline as Indians made merry against a noticeably weak opponent. They were on top right from kick-off as Muhammad Suhail danced his way into the back and pulled back his pass for Vibin to finish from close range.
Vibin was again on the scoresheet again a couple of minutes later when his attempted aerial through ball bounced over the Brunei goalkeeper's head to embarrass him and loop into the net.
India needed to score by a double-digit margin and kept sniffing for goals but were guilty of spurning numerous chances that they were able to create.
Head coach Naushad Moosa brought on centre forward Parthib Gogoi in the 32nd minute for greater attacking thrust and it helped as Ayush opened up space with a one-two combination play inside the box with Sreekuttan MS before placing the ball into the bottom corner.
In the second half, the ball pinged almost entirely in and around the Brunei area as Vibin completed his hat-trick with a curled free-kick past the leaping Brunei wall.
The introduction of Sahil Harijan, Aimen, and Soham Varshneya added impetus to move forward but didn't offer the clinicality needed to finish off well-crafted moves.
Aimen kept probing and after his powerful shot rebounded off the upright in the 83rd minute, he scored two in the end stage through finely-taken long ranger efforts.
