New Delhi: India solidified their position as the most successful team in the Asian Champions Trophy with their latest triumph against China in the summit clash at the Moqi Hockey Training Base, Daur Ethnic Park, Hulunbuir, China on Tuesday.
Jurgraj Singh scored the winner in a tightly contested game to retain India’s title and bring the total to five titles.
The Paris Olympic Bronze medallists, after a short break, returned to the international stage at the Asian Champions Trophy 2024 on September 8.
The Indian talisman Harmanpreet Singh continued to lead the team with Vivek Sagar Prasad serving as his deputy, in the absence of Hardik Singh.
Araijeet Singh Hundal, Uttam Singh, Gurjot Singh, and Amir Ali joined up from the Junior Team for their first senior continental tournament experience while Krishan Pathak, Suraj Karkera, Nilakanta Sharma and Mohammed Raheel were included in the fold after missing out on the 16 member squad for the Olympics.
India began their campaign with a straightforward 3-0 win against the hosts China. They backed it up with a comfortable 5-1 victory against Japan, followed by an 8-1 rout of Malaysia. India went on to defeat Korea 3-1 before facing long-time rivals Pakistan and beating them 2-1 in a heated encounter.
“All the teams in the group stage were tough to play against. The Bronze medal from the Olympics painted a target on our backs; we were the team to beat. But every single person on the team stepped up to make it seem like we were cruising past our opponents. The youngsters slotted in seamlessly, Krishan and Suraj alternated to bail us out of tricky situations, the defenders remained reliable, and the midfielders and forwards ran riot on the pitch. All in all, it was very enjoyable,” said Vice Captain Vivek Sagar Prasad, reflecting on the Pool stage.
Ending the Pool stage unimpeached India advanced to the Semi-Final where they took on Korea again and registered a convincing 4-1 victory. China, the lowest-ranked team in the competition, waited for them in the Final. The hosts put everything on the line in the last match, running till their knees dropped in a man-to-man press, smothering the Indian offence.
Two defenders, Harmanpreet Singh and Jugraj Singh stepped up to solve India’s attacking woes in the last quarter. Harmanpreet, after an infringement by China, began with the ball outside the shooting circle, bullied his way to the baseline and found Jugraj Singh, standing unmarked at the penalty spot. With all the time in the world, albeit from an unusual position for a defender, Jugraj made no mistake in slotting the ball in the right bottom corner and sealed India’s fate as champions.
The high-flying Indian Men’s Hockey Team scored 26 goals in 7 games in the Asian Champions Trophy. Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored 7 goals, all from penalty corners, in this course.
“The Final was really intense; the Chinese were breathing down our necks throughout the game and made it really difficult for us to create a clear goalscoring chance but the team over the last year has built immense trust in each other. The Gold medal in last year’s Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai, the Gold medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games and the Bronze from the Paris 2024 Olympics have instilled a deep camaraderie within the team; we are willing to die for one another. And it was this sense of unity reassuring us that we will find a way to win the game together,” Captain Harmanpreet Singh revealed.
“We are proud to have retained our title but the work doesn’t stop now. We have areas we need to improve, we need to build depth in our squad as well. The Team will head back to camp after a short break and start preparing for the tournaments ahead to make our supporters proud again,” the Captain added.
