‘China surprised us'

The Indian hockey team are all smiles after winning the Asian Champions Trophy in Hulunbuir, China on Tuesday. Pic/PTI

The Indian hockey team extended its dominance over the Asian Champions Trophy by winning it for a record fifth time, beating China in the final at Hulunbuir, China, on Tuesday. India began the tournament beating China 3-0 after which they routed Japan 5-1 and hammered Malaysia 8-1. They then beat South Korea 3-1 followed by a 2-1 win over Pakistan. In the semi-finals too, Harmanpreet Singh & Co were dominant and bagged a 3-1 victory over South Korea. However, the same can't be said about the final.

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India skipper Harmanpreet Singh with the Asian Champions Trophy and his Player of the Tournament award. Pic/Harmanpreet@Instagram

In fact, World No. 5 India, the defending champions and reigning Olympic bronze medallists, were far from dominant against World No. 23 China in the summit clash. With the forwardline comprising Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Uttam Singh and Araijeet Singh Hundal found wanting, the Indian defence stepped in to do the goal-scoring job. And fortunately for the visitors, with just nine minutes left for the final whistle, Harmanpreet found his deep defence partner Jugraj Singh inside the Chinese danger area and the latter scored the tournament-winning goal.

Harmanpreet, who was adjudged Player of the Tournament for his seven goals and astute leadership, admitted that the Chinese players made things tough in the final for his visiting side. "China surprised us in the final. They played extremely well. They defended very well too, and they were extremely quick in their counter-attacks as well. They also made it harder for our forwards to enter their striking circle, with three-four defenders marking each player closely. I must congratulate them," Harmanpreet, who has been shortlisted for FIH's Player-of-the-Year Award for scoring 10 goals at the Paris Olympics, told mid-day on Wednesday.

The skipper mentioned two more factors that may have contributed to the Chinese team performing as well as they did. "The crowd support here would have definitely motivated them. It was a full house and the match was befitting of a final. It was really intense. The Chinese players were breathing down our necks throughout. Their coach Jin Jin Seung, who is from Korea, has done very well with this this team in a very short period of time," added Harmanpreet.