2024-09-13 13:26:33
Hulunbuir (China): The Indian men’s hockey team started the Asian Champions Trophy on Sunday with a brilliant 3-0 win over hosts China. Sukhjit Singh (14th minute), Uttam Singh (27th minute) and Abhishek (32nd minute) scored for India while China could not score a single goal. India, which entered the tournament after winning its second consecutive bronze medal in the Olympics, capitalized on the opportunities it got in the beginning and also performed strongly in defense to win.
What did captain Harmanpreet Singh say?
Captain Harmanpreet Singh said, ‘I think we played very well. We created some good chances but the good thing is that we did not concede goals. ‘ He said, ‘Some new faces got a chance to play and I think they played very well. This is a good opportunity for them to play with the Asian team and mix with the senior team. They are very talented. I wish them all the best for the future. ‘
India got off to a slow start as China created a counter-attack opportunity early on but an alert Krishan Pathak thwarted it. Midway through the quarter, Abhishek earned a penalty corner from China but Harmanpreet’s drag flick was blocked and China launched a strong counter-attack but the Indian defence thwarted it. China got a penalty corner with six minutes remaining but missed the chance. In the final few minutes of the quarter, India penetrated the Chinese circle but did not get any clear-cut chances. Jugraj Singh then passed the ball into the shooting circle and Sukhjeet deflected it into the top corner to make it 1-0 for India.
Uttam doubled India’s lead a few minutes before half time
India were clearly cautious in the second quarter when Abhishek had an early shot which was saved by Chinese goalkeeper Kaiyu Wang. India started to control the pace of the game. Uttam doubled India’s lead a few minutes before the half-time break. He put the ball into the net after Raheel’s close-range shot was fumbled.
This is how India scored the third goal
India made a strong comeback in the third quarter. Manpreet passed the ball to Abhishek above the circle who put the ball into the goal and made the score 3-0 for his team. India will face Japan on Monday in its second match in Pool A. Last year, India won this tournament on home ground, making it the only team to win four titles in the history of this tournament. In other matches, Malaysia held Pakistan to a 2-2 draw while Japan and Korea played a 5-5 draw.