Chennai (TIP)- A dominant India mauled reigning Asian Games champions Japan 5-0 to enter their fifth Asian Champions Trophy final hereon August 11.
India will take first-time finalists Malaysia tomorrow, while Japan will be up against South Korea in the third-place match. India got the first scoring chance of the match in the form of a penalty corner but Japan goalkeeper Takashi Yoshikawa made a confident save to deny home team skipper Harmanpreet Singh.
The Indians enjoyed the bulk of the possession, while Japan played catch-up hockey. After a barren first quarter, India finally took the lead in the 19th minute through Akashdeep Singh. The veteran forward slapped in a rebound after Hardik Singh’s initial shot was saved by Japan’s second goalkeeper Takumi Kitagawa.
India kept up the tempo and earned their second, and final, penalty corner in the 23rd minute and Harmanpreet sounded the board with a fierce low flick to the left of the Japanese goalkeeper. Just at the stroke of half-time, India tripled their lead through Mandeep Singh. It was Manpreet Singh who was instrumental in getting the third goal as he intercepted the ball in the midfield and then beat three Japanese defenders to set it up for Mandeep, who just had to direct the ball in.
The trend continued after the change of ends. Sumit probably scored the goal of the tournament with a reverse stick flick into the net from a tight angle after being set up by Manpreet from the right flank.
Young Karthi Selvam made it 5-0 in India’s favour in the 51st minute after being fed by an unselfish Sukhjeet Singh, who received a perfect aerial ball from Harmanpreet. While the goals came easily, it was the defence that stood out for the hosts, who didn’t concede a single penalty corner.
Malaysia knock out defending champions
Earlier, Malaysia blew away defending champions South Korea 6-2 with a superlative performance. Najmi Jazlan (9th and 21st minutes) and Shello Silverious (47th and 48th) scored a brace each, while Faizal Saari (19th), and Abu Kamal Azrai (3rd) scored a goal each.
For South Korea, Woo Cheon Ji (2nd) and skipper Jonghyun Jang (14th) found the back of the net. Meanwhile, Pakistan ended their campaign with a 6-1 win against China in the fifth-place playoff match. Muhammad Ammad (10th and 52nd minutes) and Muhammad Khan (11th and 12th) and struck a brace each for Pakistan while Abdul Shahid (15th) and Abdul Rana (55th) scored one apiece. Source: PTI