Asian Champions Trophy: Harmanpreet brace helps India down Pakistan

Hulunbuir (China): Skipper Harmanpreet Singh made the difference as he converted two penalty corners to hand unbeaten India a close 2-1 win over arch-rivals Pakistan in their final league match of the Hero Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament here on Saturday.

It was India's fifth consecutive win in the six-team competition. Pakistan will clash with China in the first semifinal, while India will meet Korea in the second semifinal on Monday. China beat Japan 2-0 to seal the last semifinal spot.

Pakistan took the lead through Ahmad Nadeem (8th minute) before Harmanpreet (13th, 19th) converted two penalty corners. It was Pakistan's first loss in this tournament.

The victory also enabled India maintain their supremacy over Pakistan since 2016.

In their previous meeting at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, India thrashed Pakistan 10-2. A few months before that, the Indians beat Pakistan 4-0 during the Chennai edition of the Asian Champions Trophy.

At the Asia Cup in Jakarta (2022), a relatively young Indian side held Pakistan to a 1-1 draw while at the 2021 Asian Champions Trophy in Dhaka, India defeated Pakistan 4-3 to clinch the bronze medal.

The first quarter saw end-to-end action with both the teams giving their all to gain the bragging rights.

The Indians started brightly dominating the early share of exchanges but Pakistan grew in confidence as the match progressed.

India were at the receiving end for the first time in the tournament when Pakistan drew the first blood.

It was a selfless Hannan Shahid whose brilliant work from the midfield split the Indian defence and Nadeem found himself at the right place to direct the ball into the Indian goal.

A stunned India kept up their composure and patiently built their attacks and secured their first penalty corner in the 13th minute and Harmanpreet scored with a powerful drag-flick to the left of a hapless Pakistan goalkeeper Munneb.

The Indians continued to press in the second quarter and gained their second penalty corner in the 19th minute and once again Pakistan defence had no answer as Harmanpreet was bang on target as India went up 2-1.

While India were the better side in terms of possession in the second quarter, Pakistan also had their chances, penetrating the rival circle on quite a few occasions.

Just 45 seconds from half-time Pakistan had an opportunity to draw level through a penalty corner but they wasted the chance as Sufyan Khan's flick, which hit the top of the bar, was rejected for a raised ball.

The Indians sustained possession after the change of ends and secured their third penalty corner in the 37th minute, but Pakistan defended bravely.

Thereafter, a sustained spell of attacks helped Pakistanis to bag four penalty corners in quick succession but lacked the firepower to breach the Indian defence.

In the last quarter, both the sides stitched relentless attacks and India secured three more penalty corners but failed to convert.

The match also witnessed a heated encounter between Harmanpreet and Pakistan's Ashraf Waheed Rana after the latter shouldered Jugraj Singh inside the Indian circle.

Jugraj was felled by the impact and was seen grimacing in pain. Harmanpreet and Jarmanpreet Singh were quick to counter the offender.

The on-field umpires and Pakistan captain Butt and other players of both teams rushed in to control the situation but Rana was shown yellow card, which resulted in a 10-minute suspension after the umpire went for a referral for a serious misconduct.

Meanwhile, in the first match of the day, Malaysia and Korea played out a 3-3 draw.