Sukhjeet and Abhishek celebrate a goal from India against Japan in their 5-1 win at the Asian Champions Trophy. (Photo: Hockey India)
It took India only two minutes and 40 seconds to put the tie to bed.
Japan hadn’t even had a proper look at the ball, let alone settle into the match, before India’s attackers swarmed all over them from the get-go. Forward Sukhjeet Singh got the ball rolling and 30 seconds later, he had the first shot at goal — Japan, until then, hadn’t even touched the ball in the Asian Champions Trophy tie.
Another half-a-minute later, defender Sanjay, hovering around the right side of the Japanese circle, tried a slap-shot into the ‘D’. It got deflected from a Japanese stick and lobbed into the circle right in front of the goal. Sukhjeet was there once again – this time, he did not waste time in controlling and bringing the ball down. Instead, he did what Indian attackers would have been shy to do at the start of the year – take a first-time shot and beat the goalkeeper.
A few seconds later, Sukhjeet’s strike partner Abhishek controlled a beautiful pass from the left wing and marched towards the goal, kissing the baseline and dribbling past players. At one point, it looked like Abhishek hit a dead end as he was surrounded by three defenders and the goalkeeper Takumi Kitagawa was rushing towards him. But he showed deft wrist work and stick skills to beat them all and put the ball into the Japanese goal.
The matches between India and Japan are often high-scoring affairs, largely in the favour of the Tokyo and Paris Olympics bronze medallists. The Asian Champions Trophy tie on Monday was no different as the current Asian Games champions thumped the former gold medallists 5-1 to remain on top of the table.
India are the only team to win both the matches played so far, with hosts China – who lost to Harmanpreet Singh and Co 3-0 on Sunday – occupying the second spot having beaten Malaysia 4-2 later in the day.
However, if the first two rounds of matches are anything to go by, it’ll take something special to stop India from defending the title they won in Chennai last year.
Their intent was visible on Monday as even after the early two-goal lead, the team in blue did not go soft on Japan. In the second quarter, Sanjay got a drag-flick opportunity ahead of skipper Harmanpreet Singh. This didn’t happen a lot in Paris but as India look towards the 2026 World Cup, Sanjay is seen as a potential back-up to Harmanpreet in penalty corner situations.
On Monday, he showed why coach Craig Fulton had chosen him for this duty. In the first attempt he got, in the 17th minute, Sanjay unleashed a fierce flick to the left of the goalkeeper to give India a 3-0 advantage.
India’s dominance was seen not just in terms of goals scored but in all other departments — at half time, India had 20 circle entries compared to Japan’s 7, had twice the number of shots on goal and in the second quarter, dominated the possession — 67.9 per cent.
Japan did reduce the deficit in the third quarter, with a field goal from Kazumasa Matsumoto in the 41st minute, the first goal India’s new number 1 goalkeeper Krishan Pathak has conceded in this tournament.
But Uttam Singh restored India’s three-goal cushion following some slick stick work by Jarmanpreet Singh. Fittingly, the match that began with an early goal from Sukhjeet ended with the striker also having the last say.
In the 60th minute, Abhishek provided a fine assist to his strike-partner, who finished off the move with minimal fuss as India walked away with a 5-1 win.
India will next play Malaysia on Wednesday.
