Rajgir: Skipper Harmanpreet Singh struck twice off penalty corners as India battled past a resilient Japan 3-2 to seal their place in the Super 4 of the 12th Men’s Asia Cup Hockey on Sunday.
India, ranked No. 1 in Asia and seventh in the world, looked dominant in the early stages, with Mandeep Singh opening the scoring in the third minute through a fine field goal. Harmanpreet then converted the team’s fourth penalty corner to give India a 2-0 lead inside the first five minutes.
Japan, ranked 18th, fought back strongly. Their goalkeeper Takashi Yoshikawa pulled off several brilliant saves to deny Abhishek and Dilpreet Singh, while India wasted a few golden opportunities to extend the lead. Kosai Kawabe revived Japan’s hopes with a reverse-hit goal in the third quarter, reducing the margin to 1-2.
Harmanpreet restored India’s two-goal cushion (3-1) just before the end of the third quarter with another trademark drag flick. But Kawabe struck again in the final minutes to make it 2-3, setting up a tense finish. Despite conceding nine penalty corners, India’s defence, marshalled by goalkeepers Krishan Bahadur Pathak and Suraj Karkera, stood firm.
India earned six penalty corners and converted two through their skipper. Possession was evenly split (50-50), underlining the intensity of the contest played in hot and humid conditions.
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Chief coach Craig Fulton praised his team’s grit: “Reaching the Super 4 is our first reward in this tournament. We need to improve our finishing, but I’m happy we turned the tide after losing several one-goal matches in the Pro League. Maintaining our structure was the key.”
Midfielder Manpreet Singh added: “Japan are a tough side. We created chances but must learn to capitalise better. We also gave away too many penalty corners, something we’ll have to fix before facing Malaysia and South Korea in the Super 4.”
In Other Matches
China secured their first win in Pool A, hammering Kazakhstan 13-1, with Yuanlin Yu netting a hat-trick. Benhai Chen, Jiaolong Guo, Changliang Lin, and Xiahudu Ke scored two goals each, while Jixing Gao and Qijun Chen added one apiece. Kazakhstan’s lone goal came from Agesti Duisengji.
With this result, India remain unbeaten in Pool A and are assured of their place in the Super 4, while Japan await China’s final result to determine the second qualifier from the group.
