India’s men’s hockey team continued their impressive form at the Asian Champions Trophy, securing a dominant 5-1 victory over Japan on Monday. The defending champions, who had earlier defeated hosts China 3-0, now sit atop the six-team standings with six points from two games.
Sukhjeet Singh opened the scoring for India within two minutes, deflecting in a cross from Sanjay. Abhishek doubled the lead a minute later, dribbling past multiple Japanese defenders and rounding goalkeeper Takumi Kitagawa. Sanjay extended India’s advantage in the second quarter with a penalty corner deflection.
Japan managed to pull one back through Kazumasa Matsumoto in the third quarter, but India responded with goals from Uttam Singh and Sukhjeet Singh in the final period. Sukhjeet’s second goal came in the final minute, assisted by Player-of-the-Match Abhishek.
India dominated the match, with 27 circle penetrations to Japan’s 11. They also converted one of their two penalty corner opportunities, while Japan failed to convert any of their three short corner chances.
“It was a complete team effort,” said Abhishek. “We stuck to the basics. We produced a good attack and ensured we were on target.”
India will next face Malaysia on Wednesday in a repeat of last edition’s final.
