Asian Champions Trophy 2023 Semifinals: India 5-0 Japan Highlights

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

Hosts India is set to take on reigning Asian Games champions Japan in semi-finals 2 of the Asian Champions Trophy 2023. The top four teams from the group stages progressed to the semi-finals with Pakistan and China battling out out for the 5th-6th classification match. Indian men’s hockey team defeated Pakistan (4-0) and by that virtue leapfrogged Malaysia to the top spot with 13 points.

Japan, on the other hand, just made it through to the knockouts by finishing fourth with five points. Three teams – South Korea, Japan, and Pakistan were tied on same points with the former two making the cut. In the previous encounter between these two teams, Japan held India to a (1-1) draw maintaining steady defence.

India had 14 penalty corner opportunities out of which only one could be converted into a goal. The hosts in the semis shall be vary of Japan’s defence. India, however, came back strong post the draw winning three successive matches and gaining good momentum on the way to the playoffs.

The Men in Blue’s skipper Harmanpreet Singh has been in sublime form in the Asian Champions Trophy 2023 and currently leads the goalscoring chart with seven goals. Interestingly, all seven goals have come from penalty corners, with Singh widely recognised as the current best drag-flicker in the sport. Others like Jugraj Singh and Varun Kumar have also chipped in with goals from PCs, while forward Mandeep Singh has also netted twice.

As many as 10 different players have scored for India in the group stages, which the hosts topped after scoring 20 times. India were also the only team to finish the group stages unbeaten. They won four of their five matches and played a draw against Japan in the other game. The Samurai, on the other hand, lost twice and won just one match.

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