Hockey
Asian Champions Trophy: India draws 1-1 against Japan as PC woes continue
The Indian men’s hockey team was held off by Japan for a 1-1 draw as they missed 15 penalty corners in the match.
Chennai: A resilient Japanese side held India to a 1-1 draw as the host country struggled to convert penalty corners in the second group game of the Asian Champions Trophy in Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium, Chennai on Friday.
Much to the excitement of the fans, the match started with a brilliant move by the Indian defence before Japan found some space in the midfield and started exploiting it.
India’s old foe, poor penalty corner conversion came to haunt India as the skipper Harmanpreet Singh failed to convert four back-to-back penalty corners with the Japanese defence getting in the way of shot every time.
The match continued to tilt both sides as the Japanese team earned their first penalty corner. While India continued to apply pressure, Japan held on to its defence.
India continued to falter at penalty corners as Harmanpreet Singh missed three of them in the dying minutes of the first quarter.
The second quarter witnessed some fine goalkeeping from Takumi Kitagawa as he made a double save off the Indian attack and then denied Akashdeep Singh.
While the Indian team tried to find a solution to breach the Japanese defence, Japan earned their second penalty corner in the 28th minute.
The crowd fell silent as Ken Nagayoshi’s drag flick ended in the back of the Indian net and Japan earned a well-deserved 1-0 lead going in the second half.
The third quarter started with India coming all-out in attack and by the 35th minute, India has wasted two more penalty corners.
In the 43rd minute, Indian skipper Harmanpreet Singh finally converted one and equalised for India.
The final quarter started with India attacking Japan's goal but the Japanese defence stood strong against the flurry.
India earned five penalty corners in the space of ten minutes and despite Jugraj Singh and Varun taking them simultaneously, India failed to convert any one of them.
With Mandeep getting a yellow card in the 55th minute, India effectively played with 10 men and defended their goal.
Earlier in the day, Malaysia defeated China 5-1 to go to the top of the points table while Pakistan held title holders South Korea to a 1-1 draw.