After a thumping win against Bangladesh and a draw in the opening match against South Korea, India made a confident start.
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India continued their domination against arch-rivals Pakistan in hockey as reigning Olympic bronze medalist registered a 3-1 win in the Asian Champions Trophy 2021 match in Dhaka on Friday (December 17). With one thumping win against minnows Bangladesh and a draw in the opening match against South Korea, India made a confident start and took a lead in the opening quarter with dragflicker Harmanpreet Singh converting the penalty corner giving the Olympic bronze medallist a 10 lead. India kept on putting pressure on the opponent’s defence but Pakistan somehow managed to save the onslaught.
India enjoyed more possession, circle penetrations and shots on target but failed to double their lead as Pakistan goalkeeper Mazhar Abbas made numerous saves. With a goalless second quarter, the first half of the match ended 1-0 in India’s favour. India made a strong comeback in the third quarter when Akashdeep Singh led 20 with a great field goal. The cheers didn’t last long until Junaid Manzur scored a goal in Pakistan to close the gap.
The third quarter ended with India leading the match with 2-1 goals. Pakistan shot the first corner of the match, but goalkeeper Suraj Karkera made an impressive save and couldn’t keep up with the tie. After that, India scored another penalty corner, this time Harmanpreet Singh changed his second goal to 31.
Also Read – Asian Champions Trophy: India held to a 2-2 draw by Korea in men’s hockey
Pakistan got their second penalty corner of the match but goalie Karkera once again made a brilliant save to deny Pakistan any hopes of a comeback. India being the more dominant team wrapped up the match 3-1 to continue their domination over Pakistan.
India have won 11 out of the last 12 matches against Pakistan and one match ended in a draw. India remain unbeaten in the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy 2021 with two wins and one draw.
India were held to a 2-2 draw by a fighting Korea in their opening match of the Hero Asian Champions Trophy men’s hockey tournament in Dhaka on Tuesday. Men in Blue started the game brightly, scoring inside the opening four minutes through Lalit Upadhyay before vice-captain Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty corner to double the lead. However, Korea fought back to score two goals in the second half through Jonghyun Jang and Sunghyun Kim and leveled the score.
