ACT: Semis assured, India take on Japan

Dhaka, December 18

Assured of a place in the semifinals, defending champions India would look to continue their winning run when they clash with Japan in their final round-robin match of the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament tomorrow.

After a slow start to the tournament, Olympics bronze-medallist India roared back into the five-team tournament with two consecutive wins.

Playing their first tournament after their historic Olympics campaign, India were held to a 2-2 draw by South Korea in their first match. However, the players lifted their games by leaps and bounds to trounce hosts Bangladesh 9-0, before beating arch-rivals Pakistan 3-1 on Friday.

India are currently leading the standings with seven points from three games, ahead of South Korea (5), Japan (2) and Pakistan (1). Hosts Bangladesh are yet to earn a point, having lost both their games so far.

Coming into the tournament as clear favourites, the Indians were by far the best side in the event, simply on the basis of form and world standings. Having said that, India were slow off the blocks as they squandered a two-goal advantage to be held by South Korea.

It acted as a wake-up call for the Indians. They looked a different outfit against Bangladesh, dominating the 70-minute contest with a dominant display. The match against Pakistan was expected to be a close one, and it turned out to be so, albeit only in the final two quarters. India were in complete control of the proceedings in the first two quarters, taking the lead as early as in the eighth minute before doubling it in the 42nd minute. India’s dominance can be gauged from the fact that Pakistan failed to secure a single shot in the first two quarters.

Going by recent results, India have an edge over Japan, having defeated them 5-3 in their last meeting. — PTI

Hockey Nationals: Punjab going strong

pune: Punjab and Karnataka registered victories in their respective quarterfinal matches of the 11th senior men’s hockey national championships here today. In the first quarterfinal, a brace from captain Rupinder Pal Singh (46’, 53’) helped Punjab edge Chandigarh 2-1. Arshdeep Singh (50’) was the lone scorer for Chandigarh. Meanwhile, Karnataka won 3-2 over Bengal. PTI