Asian Champions Trophy: India find 5 scorers, 4 field goals in 5-0 win over Japan to enter final | Hockey News

PR Sreejesh’s booming voice pierced through the still Chennai air, rising above the anxious chatter from the packed stands.“HARMAN READY,” he barked when Japan stole the ball in the midfield and threatened a counter, urging the captain to block the passing line in the middle.“JARMAN RIGHT, JARMAN RIGHT,” he bellowed when Japan’s Kosei Kawabe tried to cut inside from the left.
“VARUN PEECHE, VARUN PEECHE,” he roared when the defender ventured out of position. “VERY GOOD VARUN,” came the word of appreciation after he returned to his position immediately to blunt a Japanese attack.

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Another thumping clean sheet victory from our #MenInBlue 🏑🇮🇳 at the #AsianChampionsTrophy to enter the final for the record 5th time💪💪
🇮🇳 5 – 0 🇯🇵
The goal 🥅🏆 is not far, boys!! All the best for tomorrow, #INDvsMAS 👍#HACT2023 pic.twitter.com/oc8VKMfD6Y
— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) August 11, 2023
In his landmark 300th match, Sreejesh was not just protecting India’s goal, he was also the team’s on-field coach. Warning, instructing and encouraging his teammates.
For a side that’s still getting comfortable with chief coach Craig Fulton’s style and structural alterations, Sreejesh’s inputs from the back – where he gets a panoramic view of the field – helped in plugging gaps and maintaining defensive shape.
This was true, especially in the opening quarter when Japan – fresh and sharp – went shoulder-to-shoulder with India staying compact in defence and imaginative going forward. Sreejesh was not called into action during the brief period when Japan looked threatening and that was largely due to his reading of the game, which resulted in the defence staying strong.
The solidarity at the back allowed India’s attackers to push forward aggressively as the hosts beat Asian Games gold medalls Japan 5-0 in the semifinals of the Asian Champions Trophy to set up a title clash on Saturday with Malaysia, who thumped South Korea 6-2 in the other semifinal.
It was as close to a complete performance as they come. While the defence did not give anything away – India did not concede even one penalty corner, allowed Japan to enter their ‘D’ only 8 times and let just 1 shot on goal – the attackers were at their imaginative best.

Straight to the Final of the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023 unbeaten.#HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #AsianChampionsTrophy2023 pic.twitter.com/J9e8Wr7EAO
— Dilip Kumar Tirkey (@DilipTirkey) August 11, 2023
There were five different goal scorers and four field goals, with each being better than the previous; a show of patience, skill, creativity and audacity.
High balls
It took India 19 minutes to open the floodgates. With Japan maintaining a compact shape, forcing India to wide areas on the pitch, India resorted to playing high balls to make the most of the height advantage and draw the defenders out of position.
The first goal was the end product of this strategy, with five players involved in the build-up play and the sixth providing the finishing touch. The move started on the right flank, roughly 15m from the baseline with Hardik Singh on the ball.
The vice-captain, noticing that Japan had blocked all the immediate passing options, spotted a discreet run defender Jugraj Singh on the other end of the ‘D’ and played an aerial cross-field pass that was beautifully controlled. Jugraj involved Manpreet Singh in the play, who passed it to Harmanpreet. India masterfully changed flanks once again and created space, with the recycled possession landing on Hardik’s stick.

We leave you with “possibly the goal of the tournament” as India demolish Japan 5-0 to storm into the final 🔥 #HACT2023 #INDvJPN pic.twitter.com/6jlAOuG9hF
— FanCode (@FanCode) August 11, 2023
Hardik shifted gears and played a brilliant give-and-go with Sumit before crossing it in front of the goal, where Akashdeep pounced on the ball to break the deadlock in the 19th minute.
Forced to hunt for the equaliser to remain alive in the contest, Japan were forced to shed their conservative low-block and move forward. This allowed India to exploit the gaps in the defence, with Harmanpreet starting a move four minutes later that led to a penalty corner, which he duly converted.
For the third goal, the scoresheet will say it was Mandeep Singh who scored but for all practical reasons, it belonged to Manpreet. The only player in the squad with more international appearances than Sreejesh, Manpreet collected the ball from roughly 30 yards out from the goal and drove forward, dribbling past three defenders before unleashing a powerful hit from the top of the ‘D’.
The shot was goal-bound but needed a touch from an Indian stick to ensure it and Mandeep provided that, deflecting the ball from a close range to put India 3-0 up at halftime and quash any hopes of a Japanese comeback.

This beautiful field goal opened the scoring for India. We’re watching this on repeat! INDIA 3-0 JAPAN at half time. 👏#HACT2023 #INDvJPN #HaqSeHockey #IndiaKaGame pic.twitter.com/cslewmyIls
— FanCode (@FanCode) August 11, 2023
Sitting in a row in front of the media enclosure, the Chinese players – who finished sixth out of six teams – watched with a complete sense of bewilderment as India dished out a masterclass.
And they weren’t finished. As the second half began, Manpreet, who has shown glimpses of his old creative self during this tournament, showed incredible vision to thread a pass through to Sumit who had made a sneaky run behind the Japanese back line. The courageous pass was completed with an audacious shot: kissing the baseline, Sumit sprinted towards the goal and casually scooped the ball over an onrushing goalkeeper from an acute angle.
And the goal rush that began with an aerial pass ended with one. Harmanpreet’s long, vertical ball covered nearly 50m of the field to find Gurjant Singh. The striker involved local boy Karthi Selvam in the play and the youngster gave the 8,000-plus inside the stadium more reasons to celebrate.
The final against Malaysia could be a trickier challenge. But on a rare night when everything for India followed the script, the players left the field making a beeline to wish the triple-centurion Sreejesh, who wasn’t a busy goalkeeper but was certainly a proactive on-field coach.