India dishes out a five-star performance against Japan to reach Asian Champions Trophy final

Chennai: Indian men’s hockey team battered Japan 5-0 in a stunning display of clinical hockey in the semifinals of the Asian Champions Trophy to book a berth in the final at Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai.

Japan, who held India to a 1-1 in a pool game, was completely outplayed by the home side and failed to find any chink in the host's armoury.

The match started in an intense manner, with India earning a penalty corner in the first minute as Jarmanpreet Singh trapped a brilliant ball. However, captain Harmanpreet Singh saw his drag flick saved by the Japanese goalkeeper Takashi Yoshikawa.

When Japan tried to play a counter-offensive game, India foiled that and breached the circle to have three more shots in the first quarter but failed to find the net.

After a barren first quarter, India scored the first goal in the 19th minute when Akashdeep Singh pounced on a loose ball from Hardik Singh in the circle. Playing a one-two with Sumit, Hardik came up with another attack, swiping a shot towards the goal, which the Japanese goalkeeper staved off.

India upped the tempo after the first goal and won another penalty corner in the 23rd minute, which Harmanpreet converted with a fierce drag flick to give India a 2-0 lead.

The crowd continued to cheer as India decimated Japan with their relentless attack. Mandeep Singh extended India's lead to 3-0 after Manpreet did some brilliant work in the midfield.

In the second half, too, India continued their onslaught, with Amit Rohidas and Manpreet dazzling around the field with their brilliant sequence of passes. But Amit’s shot was saved by Takashi Yoshikawa.

In the 39th minute, defender Sumit perhaps scored the goal of the tournament, following a brilliant stick work from Manpreet.

Manpreet broke into an open space and passed the ball to Sumit, who used the backline as a canvas to paint some magic and scoop the ball into the roof of the net to give India a 4-0 lead.

Japan was lucky not to concede soon after, with Mandeep and Akashdeep seeing their shots saved at the end of third quarter.

Indian returned with the same intensity in the fourth quarter, as the Japanese goalkeeper had to make double saves to keep the scoreline at 4-0.

The final goal by India was an icing on top of the cake as local hero Karthi Selvam scored a layoff from Sukhjeet Singh as the Indian team completed their five-star performance.

With this dominating win, India sent out a message before the final, where they will take on Malaysia, who knocked out defending champions South Korea 6-2 to set up an exciting final of the Asian Champions Trophy.