Asia Cup Hockey: India beat Japan 3-2

Rajgir: India continued their winning run with a hard-earned 3-2 victory over Japan in their second Pool A fixture of the Men’s Asia Cup at the Rajgir Hockey Stadium here.

Captain Harmanpreet Singh (5’, 46’) and Mandeep Singh (4') scored the goals for India while Kosei Kawabe (38',59') struck a brace for Japan.

With this win, India have secured a spot in the Super 4s stage.

The match also marked an important milestone for Indian goalkeeper Krishan B Pathak as he celebrated his 150th international game.

India made a bright start to the first quarter, scoring two back-to-back goals in the first five minutes to assert their dominance.

In the fourth minute, Sukhjeet Singh collected the ball on the baseline and played a perfect pass to Mandeep Singh (4') as he beat his marker in front of the goal and finished it into the net to open the scoring.

In the very next minute, India won their first penalty corner of the day and after two retakes, Captain Harmanpreet Singh (5') fired a powerful shot that struck the Japanese goalkeeper's foot and went into the goal to increase the home side's lead.

Japan too won a penalty corner in the 13th minute, but it ended fruitless.

Japan improved upon their performance in the second quarter which saw end-to-end action between the two sides, but India's resilient defence ensured the lead remained intact.

In the 19th minute, Japan came close to scoring as Ryosuke Shinohara dribbled down the middle and fired a backhand shot, which went narrowly wide.

Japan won their 2nd penalty corner in the 24th minute but Jarmanpreet saved it on the line and cleared it away for a retake, which was eventually stopped by India.

India won their second penalty towards the end of first half but Amit Rohidas couldn't find the target with his dragflick.

Japan found their first goal in the third quarter as Kosei Kawabe (38') did well to collect a difficult pass inside the circle and followed it with an angular shot, finding the bottom right corner past the keeper.

After the goal, Japan had a spring in their steps as they started attacking aggressively in search of an equaliser, but India managed to control the possession and tempo of the game.

With just seconds left in the quarter, India won a crucial penalty corner, which was converted beautifully by Captain Harmanpreet Singh (46') through the goalkeeper's legs.

In the dying moments of the match, Japan's Kosei Kawabe (59') struck his second goal of the day as he won the ball on the rebound inside the circle and scored past the keeper to reduce the deficit.

Captain Harmanpreet Singh was given a yellow card in the final minute as India were down to 10 men, but they slowed down the proceedings and held their ground to protect the slim lead and emerge victorious.

India will take on Kazakhstan in their next match on September 1.