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Indian hockey team defeated Korea 3-1 in the Asian Champions Trophy 2024 to register their fourth consecutive win of the tournament in China. Paris Olympics bronze medallist India had defeated China 3-0, Japan 5-0 before thrashing last year's runner-up Malaysia 8-1. India have already qualified for the semifinal, but Harmanpreet & Co. will face Pakistan on Saturday in their last league match in the six-team competition.
India maintained their impressive form by scoring twice early in the first quarter to take a 2-0 lead.
Araijeet Singh Hundal, who had netted twice against Malaysia, struck the opening goal in the eighth minute. Harmanpreet Singh, one of the world’s top drag flickers, then added to the score with two penalty corner conversions, the first in the ninth minute and the second in the 43rd minute.
Korea's sole goal came from Jihun Yang, who scored in the 30th minute with a penalty corner.
As has been their pattern throughout the tournament, the Indians began aggressively, with Araijeet Singh putting them ahead with a brilliant strike after receiving a pass from Sukhjeet Singh.
Just a minute later, Raj Kumar Pal, who had scored a hat-trick against Malaysia on Wednesday, earned a penalty corner for India. Captain Harmanpreet Singh seized the opportunity, converting it with a powerful drag flick.
India's reserve goalkeeper, Suraj Karkera, made a notable impact in the second quarter, making several key saves to deny Korea. Following a strong first quarter, the Indians appeared to retreat in the subsequent 15 minutes, with Korea taking control and launching persistent attacks on their defence.
The Indian defence held firm until Korea scored just before halftime. Yang found the net with a deflected shot from Manpreet Singh's stick off a penalty corner. Korea earned back-to-back penalty corners in the 35th minute, but the Indian defence stood resolute.
India had a chance to respond with a penalty corner two minutes later but failed to capitalize. In the 43rd minute, the Indian team restored their two-goal lead when Harmanpreet Singh executed a powerful low flick to the left of Korean goalkeeper Jaehan Kim.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Jarmanpreet Singh conceded a penalty corner, but the Indian defence once again proved effective. From that point on, India controlled the game and prevented Korea from creating any further scoring opportunities.
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