Tokyo: The Indian men’s hockey team continued their winning momentum as defeated hosts Japan 5-3 in the last Pool A encounter at the Oi Hockey Stadium on Friday. Having scored 10 goals in the competition in their first four games, Gurjant Singh (17th, 56th), Harmanpreet Singh (13th), Shamsher Singh (34th) and Nilakanta Sharma (51st) scored for the Indians on Friday.
For the hosts, Kenta Tanaka (19th), Kota Watanabe (33rd) and Kazuma Murata (59th) were the goal scorers. With this victory, India finish the group in second position behind World No.1 Australia. However, India’s opponent in the quarterfinals will depend on the outcome of the match between Belgium and Great Britain in Pool B.
India are slated to play the third-placed team from Pool B — Great Britain who drew with table-toppers Belgium 2-2 in the last group encounter. Brimming with confidence, India started on an attacking note with young Vivek Sagar Prasad missing an opportunity by a whisker.
2️⃣ quick 2️⃣ handle!#IND’s Gurjant Singh struck twice in their 5-3 win over #JPN! 🙌#Tokyo2020 | #StrongerTogether | #UnitedByEmotion | #Hockey | #BestOfTokyo | @TheHockeyIndia pic.twitter.com/iaUcZDkwfe
— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) July 30, 2021
Japan, on the other hand, made a few inroads but couldn’t do much infront of the Indian defence. Harmanpreet, who have been in fine form in the competition, broke the deadlock converting from a PC. India doubled the lead with Gurjant and Simjranjeet’s combining together five minutes later.
Playing his 50th international match, Simranjeet provided a stunning assist to Gurjant, who just guided the ball in the goal post with ease. Japan pulled one back through Kenta Tanaka’s field goal in the 19th minute. Eagerly looking for an equaliser, Japan got one in the three minutes into the third quarter through Watanabe.
However, the Indian attack responded quickly and took the lead again a minute later through Shamsher, who smartly deflected Nilakanta’s shot into the back of the net. Both teams started the final quarter on an attacking note, making inroads in each other’s striking circle.
It was Seren Tanaka who came up with an initial shot to score an equaliser, but India’s custodian stood tall to deny it. India made it 4-2 in the 51st minute. Two minutes later, India won their third PC, but Japan’s defence denied Harmanpreet’s fiery shot.
Gurjant scored the fifth for India in the 56th minute. Japan pulled back one in the 59th minute through Murata but it was too late by then. da
