Asia Cup: World no. 17 Japan beat world no. 3 India

There were high expectations from India heading into the game but the world no 3 team lost out to world no. 17 Japan in a completely one-sided contest. Japan seemed to begin the proceedings with an intent to take an early lead. They had several circle penetrations in the opening 10 minutes of the first quarter and India seemed to struggle to contain them. The Indian attack however bounced back quickly and managed to weave its way past the Japanese defence. The first quarter ended with the score at 0-0.

SV Sunil got straight off the mark in the second quarter and missed a great chance to give India the lead. Japan came back hard just 4 mins later to win a PC which they subsequently missed. India was not defending well at all and this was probably owing to the inexperience of the youngsters. It was SV Sunil who led the charge once again but his chances created were not converted. Japan punished India subsequently when they converted a PC that Suraj Karkera was unable to save. The second quarter ended with Japan leading 1-0.

India began the third quarter on the offensive and made multiple circle penetrations. Japan missed another PC chance to extend its lead and lost its review after a misjudgment. However, they extended their lead with a sublime finish in the 10th minute of the quarter to take a 2-0 lead. India managed to fight back with Rajbhar Pawan scoring a deflection to make the score 2-1.

The 4th quarter was a goal fest as India conceded 3 goals from open play. Japan capitalised on Indian mistakes and made up for their early missed chances. India scored 1 but could not prevent further goals from being conceded owing to sloppy defensive work coupled with no communication. The inexperience of the Indian defence kicked in once again during the final 10 minutes of the game.