IND vs JPN Highlights: India Beat Japan 2-1 In Their 1st Super 4s Match In Asia Cup
The Indian men's hockey team will take on Japan for the second time in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022. The two teams will clash against each other in Jakarta on May 28, Saturday.
INDIA BEAT JAPAN 2-1
As the final 15 minutes of the game began, India was aiming to maintain their 2-1 lead, while the Japanese attackers tried their best to score the equaliser. The game got intense and physical in the final minutes as Karti and Manjeet got hit on the face. Indian defenders held strong and were very disciplined in the final quarter. They foiled all attempts made by Japan to score a leveller.
As the final 15 minutes of the game begin, India are aiming to maintain their 2-1 lead, while the Japanese attackers are trying to score the equaliser.
India put themselves in a 2-1 lead after half-time in the 3rd Quarter after Pawan Rajbhar netted the ball to put India on top. Uttam Singh stormed through the Japanese defense as he came down running from the left byline to pass the ball to Pawan for a good finish, a goal to boost India's confidence.
Both India and Japan continued attacks and counter-attacks in Quarter 2 to get a lead but neither side could secure a goal. Japan, however, had more possession of the ball compared to India and their attackers really tested the Indian defense with its unforgiving attacking approach. At half-time, scores were leveled at 1-1.
The Indian defense was exceptional in the second quarter against a relentless aggressive attack from Japan. In Quarter 2, most of the hockey action between India and Japan took place in the Indian half. Several attempts made by Japanese attackers were foiled by the Indian defense.
Japan gets another penalty corner in the 19th minute but this time the Indian defense fails their plan. Goalkeeper Suraj did not let the ball go into the net.
Penalty corners were raining for Japan in Quarter 2. Japan won the first penalty corner in 2nd quarter as well and their relentless attack finally paid off when Takuma Niwa scored the equalizer for Japan in the 18th minute.
India ends Quarter 1 with a 1-0 lead over Japan.
An early lead against Japan gave the Indian attackers loads of confidence as they became more aggressive in their approach of moving inside the Japanese half to increase the pressure on their defenders.
Great Start for India! Manjeet Singh showed remarkable 3D skills to secure the opening goal for his team against Japan and that too from a tight angle. India started off with confidence, courtesy of a field goal from Manjeet who came running down from the left byline to outwit a defender and slip the ball past the Japanese keeper for a goal.
In the third minute itself, Japan successfully entered the Indian circle. The ball came straight in front of the Indian goal from outside the midline, but the Indian defenders did well to prevent them from scoring a goal. Today is surely going to be a tough day for Indian defenders as Japan are attacking the Indian goal post from left, right ,and center.
India captain Birendra Lakra: We will ensure not to repeat mistakes we made against Japan in our previous match, we will make sure we won’t repeat.
A young Indian side faces a confident Japan who currently dominates the Asian Hockey.
India will clash against Japan in first match of Super four stage of Men's Hockey Asia Cup at Jakarta today evening. India will eye revenge against Japan after losing to them earlier in the tournament.
The young Indian side coached by Sardar Singh had almost no chance of grabbing their spot in the final 4. A second-string Indian men's hockey team, needing to win 15-0 against Indonesia to have any chance of qualifying, attained a 16-goal difference win to not only just qualify for Super 4s of Asia Cup 2022 but also knocked Pakistan out of the tournament.
Background
India vs Japan Asia Cup 2022 Live: India Men's Hockey team, after crushing Indonesia 16-0 in style to make it to Super 4s, will aim to maintain their winning momentum when they take on heavyweights Japan on May 28 in Jakarta. The young Indian side coached by Sardar Singh had almost no chance of grabbing their spot in the final 4. A second-string Indian men's hockey team, needing to win 15-0 against Indonesia to have any chance of qualifying, showed amazing persistence to attain a 16-goal difference win to not only just qualify for Super 4s of Asia Cup 2022 but also knocked Pakistan out of the tournament.
The Indian men's hockey team will take on Japan for the second time in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022. The two teams will clash against each other in Jakarta on May 28, Saturday. India made a strong comeback by defeating Indonesia 16-0 on Thursday to make it to the Super 4s in style.
India did not perform well in the league stage and their first match ended in a draw with Pakistan, after which they lost to Japan in their next match. After this, India needed to beat Indonesia by a big margin to make it to the Super 4s and as per expected from the Sardar Singh-led team they did attain this feat with a thumping win. However, Japan is a really tough opponent and the young second-string Indian team needs to improve its game further.
India men's hockey team is missing its experienced drag flickers Amit Rohidas and Rupinderpal Singh, due to which the team has not got much success in converting penalty corners into goals. Against a weak team like Indonesia, India failed to convert even half of the more than 20 penalty corners into goals. This is what they need to improve and overcome ahead of their clash against Japan.
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