Dhaka: The Indian men’s hockey team kept their undefeated streak alive by defeating Japan 6-0 in the Hockey Men’s Asian Champions Trophy on Sunday.
Team India won with goals from Harmanpreet Singh (10′, 53′), Dilpreet Singh (23′), Jarmanpreet Singh (34′), Sumit (46′), and Shamsher Singh (54′). India is vying for a third consecutive Asian Champions Trophy championship, having won the prestigious competition in 2016 and shared it in 2018.
India end the group stage of the Hero Men’s Asian Champions Trophy Dhaka 2021 with a BANG! 💥
A clean sheet & a six-goal victory! 🤝#IndiaKaGame #HeroACT2021 pic.twitter.com/G7nRRYagxu
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) December 19, 2021
Defender Harmanpreet Singh took advantage of the opportunity in the 10th minute, scoring India’s first goal. In the waning minutes of the first quarter, India camped within Japan’s circle. Shilanand Lakra, a young attacker, and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, an experienced striker, both had shots on target but were stopped by Japan goalkeeper Takashi Yoshikawa.
As soon as the second quarter started, Japan started working hard to find the equaliser. In the 21st minute, Japan received a penalty corner, but once again, the Indian defence was up to the task and denied Japan the equaliser. Dilpreet Singh continued his goal-scoring form, as he put the ball back into the nets in the 23rd minute to score the 2nd goal for India. Japan received another penalty corner in the dying minutes of the second quarter but were yet again unable to breach India’s defence.
After halftime, Japan began to display aggressive intent in order to swiftly overcome the deficit and tried circle penetrations. India, on the other hand, maintained to play solid defence, leaving no spaces for Japan’s attackers to exploit. India’s lead was extended to 3-0 in the 34th minute when Jarmanpreet Singh scored on a reverse hit.
Sumit scored the fourth goal in the 46th minute after India startled Japan’s defence with rapid penetrations and passes early in the fourth and final quarter. When Japan’s defence failed, India was awarded a late penalty corner, which Harmanpreet Singh converted into a goal with ease, giving India their fifth goal in the 53rd minute.
Shilanand Lakra connected with Shamsher Singh a minute later, and the latter scored India’s sixth goal in the 54th minute. In the last minutes, Japan made penetrating runs, but team India remained composed and came away with another clean sheet, winning the match 6-0.
On Tuesday, India will compete in the Men’s Asian Champions Trophy Semifinal.
