2024-09-18 04:46:38
Hulunbuir (China): The Paris Olympics bronze medallist Indian team, which is in great form, will be a strong contender against Korea in the semi-finals of the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) hockey tournament here on Monday. India has not lost a single match in the tournament so far, winning all five league matches. The Harmanpreet Singh-led team started its campaign with a 3-0 win over host China. After this, it defeated Japan 5-1 and Malaysia 8-1. After defeating Korea 3-1, the Indian team won 2-1 over arch-rival Pakistan. The performance of the Indian team has been excellent. The players have shown better performance in every department, be it the front line or midfield or defense. The performance of the strikers for India in the league stage has been amazing.
Scoring field goals was a matter of concern for India in Paris but here the young strikers like Sukhjeet Singh, Abhishek, Uttam Singh, Gurjot Singh, Arijit Singh Hundal and others have performed better than expected. Young midfielder Raj Kumar Pal also scored some good field goals. Apart from this, experienced Manpreet Singh, vice captain Vivek Sagar Prasad and Neelkant Sharma have performed well in midfield.
The Indian defense has also been strong, conceding only four goals. Goalkeepers Krishan Bahadur Pathak and Suraj Karkera did not let the team feel the void created by the retirement of the charismatic PR Sreejesh. Harmanpreet, one of the best dragflickers in the world, continued her good form in Paris and converted five penalty corners into goals.
Harmanpreet is getting good support from young Jugraj Singh who is currently the fastest dragflicker in the world but knockout matches are a new beginning for any team so India cannot afford to take Korea lightly as the opponent can spring a surprise if they have a good day and they kept their semifinal hopes alive by drawing 3-3 with a last minute equaliser against Malaysia. Indian defence will also have to be cautious about not conceding too many penalty corners as Korea has a strong dragflicker in the form of Jihun Yang who is the tournament’s top scorer with seven goals.