- Sunday, April 28, 2024
The three-time winner hosts also avenged their 3-5 loss to the same opponents in the semi-final of the Asian Champions Trophy 2021 in Bangladesh.
By: Shubham Ghosh
HOSTS India avenged their semi-final defeat in the 2021 Asian Champions Trophy against Japan when they hammered them 5-0 in yet another semi-final of the same tournament at Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Chennai in the southern state of Tamil Nadu on Friday (11).
Harmanpreet Singh’s boys continued with their supreme form to beat the only side they hadn’t beaten yet in the tournament to set up a final against Malaysia who thumped defending champions South Korea 6-2 in another semi-final.
The final will be played at the same venue on Saturday (12).
India, who won all their games in the league stage barring the one against Japan who they drew, delivered a complete performance in the six-team tournament which also included arch-rivals Pakistan and China. They held their structure well and well constructed chances while not losing possession. India also did not concede a single penalty corner to the opponents in the game.
For India, Akashdeep Singh, Harmanpreet, Mandeep Singh, Sumit and Selvam Karthi scored a goal each while veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh appeared in his 300th international match.
India had lost to the Samurais 3-5 in the Asian Champions Trophy semi-final at home two years ago.
Earlier in the day, Malaysia mauled South Korea by producing a superlative performance to reach their maiden final in the tournament. For the winning team, Najmi Jazlan and Shello Silverius scored two goals each while Abu Kamal Azrai and Faizal Saari netted one each.
The goals for South Korea came from the sticks of Cheon Ji Woo and captain Jonghyun Jang.
In the fifth-place deciding-match, Pakistan blew away China 6-1. This is the first time that three-time winners Pakistan failed to make the semi-finals in the Asian Champions Trophy.
