NEW DELHI, Sept 17: India clinched the hockey Asian Championship Trophy for the fifth time on Tuesday edging past host China 1-0 in an absolute thriller of finals at Hulunbuir in China.
After the first three quarters ended goalless, Jugraj Singh scored the all-important goal for India at the 50th minute in the fourth quarter sounding the board from a pass from captain Harmanpreet. It was the record-extending fifth Asian Champions Trophy title for India.
India and China played some excellent hockey throughout the final. It was not easy for the favourites and Paris Olympics bronze medallist as they failed to break the Chinese defence in the first three quarters. After Jugraj Singh scored, China pushed hard at the Indian goal line to equalise but it went futile. Indian players held their nerves and never allowed China to score the equaliser.
Fighting against a rousing home crowd roaring for their countrymen, India started off patiently, playing with the pace of the game, and not forcing the chances to come. Both teams shared the possession and took their (un)timely chances to draw first blood, but neither could find the breakthrough in the first quarter.
Uttham and Hundal both probed into the defence of their Chinese opponents to no avail. China, on the other hand, tried to play on the counter to take their chances, but couldn’t find the composure in the Indian circle.
In the 11th minute, Rajkumar Pal found the space to get his first shot off, as India registered their first shot on target and won their first Penalty Corner of the game. But, upon back-to-back attempts, the Indian skipper Harmanpreet Singh failed to find the angle needed to aim for goal.
This would merely be the spark that lit the fuse for India as they would go on to probe and pester the Chinese defence with multiple attempts on goal, but the home team would hold on to end the first quarter scoreless.
Much of the same unfolded in the second quarter, which started off with both sides looking evenly matched. India would go on to regain a better part of the possession in the first part of the quarter, but their patience would yield no result, as China would stay strong to nullify any attack that India would embark on. With a little more than three minutes to go in the second quarter though, India would come the closest to breaking the deadlock as the Men in Blue would win their third Penalty Corner, with Harmanpreet Singh’s shot hitting the post and bouncing off it, centimetres away from goal.
Shortly later, in the very next minute, Manpreet would go on to get fouled hard by China’s goalkeeper on the next attack, which would go for a review up to the umpire. But, it would be overturned to be ruled a no stroke for India, as both teams would walk into hafltime at 0-0.
Coming into the second half, India would find a bit of extra momentum as the likes of Gurjot, Abhishek and Harmanpreet Singh all would muster up their attempts on goal, as the away side would completely overwhelm the Chinese with wave after wave of attacks.
China though would hold on to their composure, and would break away on the counters periodically to pester the Indian’s defence. Tensions would boil over in the 40th minute, when China would win a contested call for a Penalty Corner, but would fail to capitalise on the same as Pathak would produce a fine save to keep India in the game.
Hundal would once again embark on heroic solo runs to find the breakthrough, but a pesky China would continue to hold their nerve as the third quarter would come to a scoreless end.
With all to play for, India would come out of the gate guns blazing in the fourth quarter, poking and probing at China’s defence relentlessly. Finally, in the 50th minute, it would finally be Jugraj Singh who would convert off a pass from skipper Harmanpreet Singh, to finally break the deadlock and give India the slender 1-0 lead.
A frantic China would go into overdrive, and in a moment of desperation would take their goalkeeper out to force the issue in an all-out attack. But, all their bravery would yield nothing, as China would fail to find the equalizer as time ran out, handing India their fifth Asian Champions Trophy.
In the other match, Pakistan beat South Korea 5-2 to claim the third spot in the six-nation tournament.
(Manas Dasgupta)