ACT hockey: India beat China to win 5th title

Hulunbuir: A determined India claimed their fifth Hero Asian Champions Trophy title with a fighting 1-0 victory over hosts China here on Tuesday, completing a display of absolute dominance in the tournament in which they won all their matches.

Defender Jugraj Singh scored a rare field goal as the defending champions toiled hard before getting the better of their opponents. It was not easy for the Harmanpreet Singh-led India as they failed to break the Chinese defence in the first three quarters.

Eventually, Jugraj broke the deadlock in the 51st minute to hand the Paris Olympics bronze medallists the win against a resolute Chinese side, which was playing in only its second international tournament final.

Before this, China's only appearance in the final of an international tournament was in 2006 Asian Games, where they finished second-best after losing 1-3 to Korea.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan defeated Korea 5-2 to bag the third spot in the six-team competition.

India, thus, became the most successful team in the tournament's history with a record-extending five titles. The Indians had previously achieved back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2018.

Rewarding the team's efforts, Hockey India on Tuesday announced a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh for each player and Rs 1.5 lakh for each support staff member.

India started the contest as favourites, having defeated China 3-0 in their opening league game, but the final turned out to be a very close affair.

It was a keenly-contested battle between the two sides in the first two quarters, even though India had better scoring chances. The Chinese defended deep and troubled their rivals with brisk counter attacks.

Raj Kumar Pal had the first shy at the goal for India but his effort was saved by Chinese goalkeeper Wang Weihao.

Raj Kumar recovered well enough and earned India's first penalty corner in the 10th minute with some brilliant stick work, which resulted in another set piece but skipper Harmanpreet was off target with the second try.

Two minutes later, Nilakanta Sharma saw a sharp save from Wang and then, the Chinese goalkeeper showed brilliant reflexes to deny Sukhjeet Singh after being fed by Jugraj.

Seconds from the end of the first quarter, India conceded a penalty corner but Krishan Bahadur Pathak was alert in front of the goal.

The script was the same in the second quarter with India enjoying most of the possession and China relying on counters.

India pressed for goal in the face of a brilliant display of deep defending from China. The hosts didn't panic, and stayed calm when put under pressure by the Indians.

In the 27th minute, Sukhjeet Singh secured a penalty corner but Harmanpreet's attempt hit the post, as China did enough to hold India goalless at half time.

The nimble-footed Chinese came out with renewed vigour after the change of ends, mounting a series of attacks on the Indian citadel.

China secured their second penalty corner in the 38th minute but the Indians defence was up to the task.

The Chinese continued their aggressive intent, earning back-to-back penalty corners in the 40th minute but India goalkeeper Pathak was alert under the bar.

The young Indian forwardline, which produced a fine performance in the tournament, too had its chances and penetrated the Chinese defence on a number of occasions but failed to find the target.

It required a brilliant burst from Harmanpreet to finally break the deadlock.

The in-form India captain sneaked into the Chinese circle with some fine stick work and neatly passed the ball to fellow defender Jugraj, who pushed it in past the opposition goalkeeper, as India heaved a sigh of relief.

With the home crowd backing them, China withdrew their goalkeeper for an extra field player four minutes from the hooter, but the Indians managed to keep the ball in their control and defended in numbers to emerge triumphant.

India might have had an unbeaten run in the tournament but chief coach Craig Fulton said the campaign was not easy for the young side.

"It was a tough for us, the good one in the end. We had to work hard, it was really good fight. Seven games and we played some good hockey but we just couldn't score tonight but we got the result in the end," Fulton said.

Fulton said the last two months have been a roller-coaster for him as well as the team. "It has been a roller-coaster, Paris and what happened there and just eight days with the family.

"To come here with a young group and some new players, the boys were tired but we found a way and that's always the sign of a good team," he said.