Skipper Harmanpreet hails forwards after Asia Cup win, WC qualification; expresses solidarity with Punjab flood victims

Rajgir (Bihar) [India], September 7 (ANI): Following India's Asia Cup win and consequent direct qualification to the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026, skipper Harmanpreet Singh hailed the forwards for their performances and vowed to put together the "best" World Cup squad. He also expressed his team's solidarity with victims of the Punjab floods.

The Indian Men's Hockey Team clinched the continental title as they registered a comfortable 4-1 win over defending champions South Korea at the Rajgir Hockey Stadium on Sunday. India lifted the Asia Cup trophy after a long gap of eight years, and with this victory, the Harmanpreet Singh-led side qualified for the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026.

The last time they won the Asia Cup was in 2017, in Dhaka. Today, goals were scored by Dilpreet Singh (28',45'), Sukhjeet Singh (1') and Amit Rohidas (50'). Following this historic win, Hockey India announced Rs 3 lakh each to players and Rs1.5 lakh to the support staff.

Speaking after the match to the media, captain Harmanpreet said that the team had been practising for it for a long time, and it feels great to have achieved their mission.

Team India had a disappointing end to their FIH Pro League campaign this year in June, finishing in eighth spot out of nine teams, winning just six out of 16 matches and losing seven matches in a row, ultimately finishing with 10 losses. During this terrible run, they let their opponents score 23 goals and could score just 14 goals.

Following this, some training took place, and in August, India embarked on a four-match tour to Australia, which they lost 1-3. This win marks a massive moment for them after a few months of setbacks.

"You learn from every match. As I said, the plus and minus are always there. But how soon you analyse it, work on it, apply things, that matters. So, I think as a team defence, we have done very well. And the scoring we are seeing is very good. I think defence. If we see, the last matches we played, we gave tough competition to the opponents," he added.

Harmanpreet hailed the forwards, saying, "They did a great job. They were converting all the opportunities in the goal. So, this combination is good. We will continue it."

The skipper said that there is still plenty of time to go for the World Cup next year, so they will be taking a little break for now and have a Junior Hockey World Cup in India from November to December.

"We are going to have a little break. There is a lot of time for the World Cup. We have the Junior World Cup. There are some boys who have already played with the senior team (in the junior side). So, they will also come. So, I think we will make a strong squad of 33. We will make sure that we make one of the best squads for the World Cup," he added.

Speaking on the Punjab floods, Harmanpreet described the situation as "really sad" and admitted that the team talked about it as well.

"When we go back, we will make sure we stand with the people because they are ours, they have always supported us. And we also have the right to stand with them. But with that, I appeal to all the NGOs and people to please stand with everyone. Whatever you can support, whether small or big, we will always stand for each other. And we should stand up for each other. So, I hope that we can also go, see what is going on there and help," he added.

At least 48 people have lost their lives due to floods in Punjab, where nearly 2,000 villages and over four lakh people have been affected.

Head coach Craig Fulton was also ecstatic with the performance, saying that the team "was not firing" in the start, but grew into the tournament as it progressed.

"The objective (to win the Asia Cup and achieve WC qualification) gives us a nice buffer, so we do not have to worry about March with any qualifiers because we will be busy with Hockey India League and Pro League in February. So super proud of the boys. And yeah, we showed what we could do last night and backed it up again tonight," he added.

Speaking on the match, Fulton was happy with how the team "controlled the play better and were a bit more patient."

"We scored four goals, which was a lot more than what we scored the other night when we played them (a 2-2 draw). Korea is a great team, they play deep, they play defensive, it is hard to break them down, but we took our chances and four goals are enough in the final," he added.

On whether junior players will be joining the senior squad, Fulton said, "We do that all the time. That is why we have started the India A team. So that from the under-21 level, they can go to India A, which train at the same level as the Indian senior team and undergo same conditioning. The gap is not so big. It is all working really nicely and under-21s are always in the picture."

Fulton termed the victory a "relief". "We have been on the road for two months, and it is nice to walk away from here being champions," he added.

Vice-captain Hardik Singh said after the match to the media, that the mindset was to "dominate in Asia" and qualify for the World Cup.

"We knew that we could beat any team, but we needed great final execution. We knew that in the Super Four, in the important matches, our forwards and our defenders would play very well. I think this team has a lot of seniors and juniors coming in as well. The combination is nice. In every match, we need 5-6 captains, who raise their game in every match. What struggles we had earlier, we have put it behind and it is the best feeling," he concluded.

India got off to a rocking start with Sukhjeet Singh scoring for the hosts within 30 seconds of the start of the game. It was a fine assist from Captain Harmanpreet Singh which was picked up brilliantly by the forward and powerfully struck a tomahawk past the Korean goalie Jaehan Kim. There was plenty of action in the opening quarter, with India being awarded a penalty stroke with about six minutes left for the first hooter. This was an opportunity that was created by Mandeep Singh when he was taking a shot on goal, when a deliberate stick-check by a Korean defender saw them being awarded the stroke. But the opportunity went begging with Jugraj Singh flick being padded away by Jaehan.

The second quarter saw Korea slow down India. Jugraj was also seen being given a green card but young midfielder Rajinder Singh helped India win their first PC in the 19th minute. But a good review by Korea meant that India was denied this chance. After a brief lull in the second quarter with both teams unable to find substantial attack, Dilpreet Singh broke the gridlock when he struck in the 28th minute. It was a long ball by Harmanpreet Singh, received well by Sanjay, who lofted it to Dilpreet. He took a brief moment to position himself well enough to find the gaps in between the goalie's legs and earned India that much-needed 2-0 lead.

Changing sides after half-time, India got the ball rolling in the third quarter with just 10 men of the field as Sanjay had been awarded a green card just seconds before the second hooter. Only three minutes into the third quarter, India won a PC after Korean foot in the circle. But the decision to award India a PC was overturned by the on-field umpire after Mandeep's shin hit the ball first before finding the Korean foot. There were a few chances created in the following minutes as India's forwardline took turns to make forays into the Korean circle, but a breakthrough came only in the 45th minute, and again, it was Dilpreet who struck a fine goal. It was clever stickwork from Dilpreet that called for grand celebrations around the Rajgir Sports Complex.

It was Harmanpreet Singh, who was the playmaker yet again with a clever pass into the centre of the goal, Raj Kumar Pal getting a shot on, but eventually it was Dilpreet who turned it in. Dilpreet remained the cynosure of India's attack in the final as he created a PC which was splendidly converted by Amit Rohidas. But at the start of the fourth quarter, Korea converted a goal after a good variation in PC. Yang Jihun fakes the flick, played it back to the injector Lee Jungjun who eventually passed it to Son Dain to score. The 4-1 scoreline hardly affected India's determination to lift the title. They held on to the lead in the dying minutes to end the eight-year-long wait. (ANI)

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