India Registered Their Third Consecutive Win in Asian Champions Trophy

The Hero Asian Champions Trophy 2018 is being played currently in Muscat, Oman. Its final will be played on October 28, 2018. It is the fifth edition of the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy, a field hockey tournament for the six best Asian national teams which are Oman, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Korea and Japan.  In a match played between India and Japan on 21^st October 2018, the Indian men's hockey team registered a historical win by defeating Japan by 9-0.

The team put up an analytic achievement against Japanese team, who were the Asiad gold-medalists as marked in history. India was playing for its third win in as many matches at the Hero Asian Champions Trophy. There were six Indian players who marked their count on the scoreboard is a one sided show that reaffirmed their legacy in Asia for Hockey. Indian team is currently placed at the top of the points table leading it by 9 points followed by Malaysia on six points from two games. It was India’s third consecutive win. India, ranked fifth in the world, were the favourites to win the game against world no. 16 Japan. But with a 9-0 thrashing, Harendra Singh’s men are looking good to go all the way in the tournament. The goals were scored by Mandeep Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Sumit and Lalit Upadhyay to register a lavishing performance and flaunt the experience and technique they practice. The team was high on confidence after their win against Pakistan in their second match of the tournament. The team kicked a good start with Lalit Upadhyay and Akashdeep Singh combining well and making out some close chances in the starting minutes itself. Mandeep Singh opened the scoreboard in the 4th minute as he deflected Akashdeep Singh's low cross from the left, through the Japanese goalkeeper's leg. Four minutes later, the dominant Indians won a penalty corner and that resulted in a goal for Gurjant Singh, who benefited after Harmanpreet Singh’s drag flick was saved. The Japanese goalkeeper Takashi Yoshikawa was followed by some penalty corner by the other team member to achieve the win by 9-0 with a clinical performance. Mandeep Singh proved his agility by scoring a hat-trick in the match.  It was overall one of the best performance of the Indian team which is ranked at 6^th Spot on the world ranking against the Japanese team which is at 16^th spot. Indeed India is the favourite in the tournament for winning the title. Japanese team coach Siegfried Aikman stated that they tried their level best, but the Indians were very strong. India sparkled with their speed, agility and hard-press game.

By: Anuja Arora

Content: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/hockey/top-stories/asian-champions-trophy-india-crush-asiad-hockey-champions-japan-9-0/articleshow/66308751.cms