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Just when the spirited Chinese challenge appeared to be turning into a scare, India captain Harmanpreet Singh stepped up to lead from the front, to get to his hat-trick in a 4-3 win in their opening game of the Men’s Hockey Asia Cup here at the Rajgir Sports Complex on Friday.
China’s army of coaching staff, led by head coach Anthony Farry and his four assistants, including Dutch tactician Michel van den Heuvel and former India coach Roelant Oltmans, are trying to build a team for the future, and this team’s progress should hearten their bosses. The fitness of both teams stood out in the end-to-end encounter, with either side taking turns to attack and execute turnovers.
‘Lesson learnt’
Harmanpreet later admitted that it was not an easy opening encounter for the World No. 7 hosts against the No. 23 Chinese. “Structure-wise, most teams here play deep and wait for counters. So, we have to watch out. It was a little tough [today], but winning is important. We put up a good fight, but it’s also a good lesson,” said Harmanpreet.
“We had two goals disallowed by it also gives you confidence that you’re creating opportunities as a team. Our target now is to convert those opportunities into goals in the coming matches,” he added.
Team China, meanwhile, are crystal clear about their ambition. “We are [ranked] 23 in the world. We have to start growing, and in the end, we shall try to go to the LA 2028 Olympics. It’s tough, but you never know in sport. In the long term, and after working with some good support staff for the next couple of years, I think it is possible,” said China’s assistant coach Michael van den Heuvel.
All seven goals in the match came off penalty corners, which were in good supply as both teams were relentless in attack, with the 3500-strong capacity crowd enjoying the edge-of-the-seat entertainment and occasionally even dancing to the tunes of the DJ, playing local Bhojpuri hits.
India had a goal disallowed in the third minute and it was China, who opened the scoring to hush silence from the otherwise vociferous spectators. China’s attacking intent paid dividends in the 12th minute when Shihao Du converted a penalty corner. It remained 1-0 at the end of first quarter before India equalised soon after the break, when Jugraj Singh flicked the ball in (18th min). Harmanpreet joined him on the score sheet two minutes later. But for another disallowed goal, India could have gone into the half-time break with a two-goal advantage. However, Harmanpreet turned that into a reality in the 33rd minute with his second PC conversion.
China fight back
China continued their offensive undeterred and it paid off in the form of a PC that was converted by Benhai Chen (35th min). Then, just before the third quarter ended, China restored parity at 3-3 through Jiesheng Gao. In between that, China also had a goal disallowed when Harmanpreet successfully reviewed a stick-check that the on-field umpire failed to spot. Harmanpreet was all set to complete his hat-trick when India were awarded a penalty stroke, but his flick found the post. He eventually completed it in the 47th minute.
In the other Pool A match earlier, Japan drubbed Kazakhstan 7-0. In Pool B, Malaysia defeated Bangladesh 4-1 and defending champions South Korea hammered Chinese Taipei 7-0. India will next take on Japan on Sunday.
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