Asian Champions Trophy 2023: India 4-0 Pakistan Highlights

Hello and welcome to Khel Now’s live blog for the India vs Pakistan match in Hockey Asian Champions Trophy 2023. Please wait for the blog to load.

With their semi-finals berth already secured, India will look to finish the group stages of the Asian Champions Trophy 2023 at the table leaders. The Indian men’s hockey team face neighbours and arch-rivals Pakistan in their final group stages matches in the Asian Champions Trophy. While India sit pretty comfortably at the top, Pakistan will play for securing themselves a place in the semi-finals. They are currently fourth in the table and must at least finish fourth to enter the knockouts stages.

India booked their place in the semi-finals with wins over China, Malaysia and title holders South Korea. They were held to a 1-1 draw by the reigning Asian Games champions Japan.

South Korea vs India Match Report

The Indian men’s hockey team defeated defending Champions Korea 3-2 in a thrilling encounter in the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy 2023 here at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Egmore. Nilakanta Sharma (6′), Harmanpreet Singh (23′) and Mandeep Singh (33′) scored in India’s win while Kim Sunghhyun (12′) and Jihun Yang scored for Korea. India regained their top place in Asian Champions Trophy with the win.

It was an entertaining start to the match, with both teams playing to their potential. After a brief tussle for ball possession in the early minutes of the quarter, India found their rhythm in the sixth minute when Nilakanta Sharma opened the scoring for the hosts. Forward Sukhjeet did well to beat two Korean defenders at the baseline before assisting Nilakanta.

Korea, however, responded quickly with an equalizer in the 12th minute via Kim Sunghhyun. It was experienced Manjae Jung, who found Kim at the edge of the circle, setting up a fine field goal.  

After a roaring start, India extended their lead swiftly, forcing a Korean defender to commit an infringement in the circle, resulting in a PC in the 23rd minute. After a re-take, Harmanpreet fired low to the right of the Korean goalie. The 2-1 lead gave India the right pace and aggression to up the pressure on Korean defence. Though no more goals came through in the second quarter, India further extended their lead after the ten-minute half-time break.

Indian Sports Live Coverage on Khel Now

• China Masters 2023: Satwik-Chirag defeat home pair He-Ren to reach final
• Sports Minister Anurag Thakur announces first-ever edition of Khelo India Para Games
• Pankaj Advani defeats Sourav Kothari to win record 26th IBSF World Billiards Championship title
• Rohan Bopanna reaches joint career-high WR-3 in men’s doubles ranking
• Neeraj Chopra among five finalists for Men’s World Athlete of the Year Award for 2023
• List of Indian athletes to have secured qualification for Paris Olympics 2024

This time, it was Mandeep Singh who took his individual tally to 101 international goals when he gave India a 3-1 lead. It was Shamsher, scooping it between two defenders to Mandeep in the circle. The experienced striker came up with an attractive tomahawk into the net.

The 33rd minute goal gave India enough ammunition to attack the Korean defence line. Akashdeep Singh, Manpreet and Mandeep worked in tandem to take turns to create scoring opportunities, but they could not quite connect.

The fourth quarter began with India winning a PC, but Harmanpreet’s dragflick hit the foot of Jang on the post. A penalty stroke was awarded to India, but it was brilliantly saved by Kim Jaehyeon. The following minutes of the quarter witnessed the brilliance of Jaehyeon, who made save after save, stopping India from taking their scoreline to 4-1.

Meanwhile, their forwardline pushed for goals via PCs. They won a couple in the dying minutes of the match. But could not convert any. They eventually converted in the 58th minute through a PC scored by Jihun Yang.

India, however, held on to their lead to register a well-earned victory and pocketed three points to top the table.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and join our community on Telegram.