World number four Indian team was held to a draw by Japan in the Asian Champions Trophy hockey.
Trailing 0-1 at the interval, the Indian team hh6 p to equalize in the third quarter, but could not find the winning goal.
It was Japan’s goalkeeper Yoshikawa who neither the Indian drag-flickers nor the forward line could penetrate.
India got 14 penalty corners in the entire match, but only one could be converted. The Indian team also failed to score field goals. Earlier, Pakistan were held to a 1-1 draw by defending champions Korea, while Malaysia registered an emphatic 5-1 win over China.
Six of India’s goals came from penalty corners in their 7-2 win against China. Here too the Indian team struggled to score field goals.
The same flaw came to the fore against defending runners-up Japan, but the Indian team’s main strength has been their ability to convert penalty corners.
Against China, he got nine penalty corners, in which he converted six, but Harmanpreet converted only one of the 14 penalty corners on Friday in the 42nd minute. India tried Harmanpreet, Varun Kumar, Jugraj Singh for penalty corners but all three could not make an impact.
the Indian team could not impress in the first two quarters. The first quarter remained goalless, but in the 28th minute of the second quarter, Japan’s player of the match Ken Nagayoshi converted a penalty corner with a drag flick to give Japan the lead.
Japan got only two penalty corners in the whole match. India struggled to get a draw. Yoshikawa was like a wall in front of the goal, fending off one attack after another from India. He brilliantly saved Akashdeep Singh’s attempt on goal and also dismissed Varun Kumar and Harmanpreet’s drag flicks.
The Indian team completely dominated the fourth quarter, but with four minutes to go, Mandeep Singh was shown a yellow card for a foul and was ruled out of the rest of the match. Due to which India had to play with 10 players.
This was the 34th match between India and Japan, in which India has won 27 times and Japan three times. This was the fourth match which ended in a draw between the two teams. India had won the previous match against Japan 8-0.
China suffered a crushing 2-7 loss to hosts India in their opening match, but today they caught Malaysia by surprise early on. In the fourth minute of the game, Changkang Chen gave China the lead through a reverse hit.
After this goal, Malaysia’s Faizal Sari equalized on a drag-flick. Minutes later, player of the match Abu Kamal Azrai gave Malaysia the lead.
Malaysia was leading 2-1 at the interval. In the third quarter, Ashari scored on Abu’s pass to put his team ahead 3-1.
Ashari scored the fourth goal for Malaysia before the fourth quarter. After this, Najmi Jazlan scored the fifth goal from the penalty corner.
Pakistan had to play out a 1-1 draw with defending champions Korea. Pakistan were leading 1-0 seven minutes before the end of the game, but a penalty stroke by Jihun Yang in the 53rd minute put an end to Pakistan’s hopes.
Earlier in the ninth minute itself, Pakistan took the lead through Abdul Shahid’s field goal. This was Pakistan’s captain Umar Bhuta’s 200th international match. Hockey India also honored him for this achievement. Shahid’s goal gave Pakistan a 1-0 lead at the interval.
Pakistan had to play out a 1-1 draw with defending champions Korea. Pakistan were leading 1-0 seven minutes before the end of the game, but a penalty stroke by Jihun Yang in the 53rd minute put an end to Pakistan’s hopes.
Earlier in the ninth minute itself, Pakistan took the lead through Abdul Shahid’s field goal. This was Pakistan’s captain Umar Bhuta’s 200th international match. Hockey India also honored him for this achievement. Shahid’s goal gave Pakistan a 1-0 lead at the interval.
