India In The Semi-Final
Defending champions India confirmed their place in the semifinal of Asian Champions Trophy 2021 with a 6-0 win over Japan in their final group stage match on Sunday. India secured a win against Pakistan and Bangladesh after playing out a draw against Korea in the tournament opener and are still unbeaten in the round-robin stage of the tournament.
Harmanpreet Singh (10th and 53rd minute) scored a brace, while Dilpreet Singh (23rd), Jaramnpreet Singh (34th), Sumit (46th), and Shamsher Singh (54th) also registered their names on the scoresheet for India at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium.
The Blues earned back-to-back Penalty corners within the first six minutes of the first quarter but failed to convert both. The blues threatened the Japanese backline and earned another Pc and this time Harmanpreet flicked it home and gave India the lead. It was a clinical performance from then on as India didn’t hold back and put the game to end
India, who have already sealed a semifinal berth, were the table toppers with 10 points to their name out of the 5 nation tournament. Korea are in the second position with 6 points followed by Japan in third with 4 points, Pakistan with 2 points are in fourth and Bangladesh with 0 points are at the bottom of the table.
This was India’s third win in a row. The Semi-final fixtures are yet to be decided and this victory could act as a confidence booster for the business end of the tournament.
