Jakarta: India edged out Pakistan 2-1 to win their bronze-medal play-off in the Asian Games hockey here on Saturday.
India made the perfect start as forward Akashdeep Singh put them ahead with a lovely strike in the third minute sending the Indian supporters into raptures.
India and goalkeeper P R Sreejesh were lucky to escape as a Pakistan attempt ricocheted off the post just a couple of minutes later.
India dominated the first quarter, but they could not translate that into goals.
At the start of the second quarter, S V Sunil latched on to a scoop, only to be denied by Pakistan goalkeeper Imran Butt.
Though Pakistan won back-to-back penalty corners in the 23rd minute, both were wasted.
Sunil had a golden chance to double India’s lead, but Butt pulled off a fine save to make sure Pakistan trailed only 0-1 at the break.
Sunil’s desperate dive to get to a fine pass by Sardar did not come off as Pakistan heaved a sigh of relief in the early part of the third quarter.
Pakistan won their fourth penalty corner in the 39th, but again Sreejesh and the defenders did the job for India.
India won their first penalty corner of the match in the final quarter and Harmanpreet Singh made no mistake to double their lead.
Muhammad Atiq pulled one back for Pakistan with eight minutes to go.
The Indians had conceded a late equaliser against Malaysia, but this time around they held on.
India, coached by Harendra Singh, had lost to Malaysia in a shoot-off, while Pakistan were stunned 1-0 by Japan in the semifinals.
Pakistan, coached by former India coach Roelant Oltmans, will return home empty-handed for the first time from the Games since the 2002 Busan edition. Pakistan will be extremely disappointed that they failed to convert even a single one of their four penalty corners.
'We showed character'
Sreejesh said that the team showed character to bounce back from the semifinal defeat and end up on the podium. “I am happy that we are not returning empty-handed. It's very tough to regroup after a semifinal loss. We showed character on the pitch and I am happy that we are on the podium. We fought all 60 minutes,” he said.
Double for Japan
Japan downed Malaysia 3-1 in a shoot-off in a thrilling final to clinch men's gold for the first time. The match ended 6-6.
The Japanese were trailing 2-5 at one stage. The triumph also meant Japan completed a double, with their women edging India 2-1 in the final on Friday.
