Asian Champions Trophy: India beat Pakistan to win bronze medal
Indian defeated Pakistan in a third-place match to sign off with the bronze medal at the Asian Champions Trophy 2021. India defeated Pakistan with a 4-3 scoreline. The neighboring rivals were pitted against each other after losing their respective semi-final matches. Indian were beaten 3-4 in their semi-final match against Japan while South Korea got the better of Pakistan (6-5) in the second semis.
- Manpreet Singh-led India looked in superb form as they finished the round-robin stage as table toppers.
- They were unbeaten during the group stage of the tournament.
- But their performance in the knockout round left a lot to be desired.
- India lost their semi-final game against Japan and were made to toil hard by Pakistan during their bronze medal match.
Vice-captain Harmanpreet Singh gave India the lead within a minute in the game via a penalty corner. India earned four back-to-back penalty corners in the first minute and Harmanpreet managed to convert the last one. Afraz scored the equalizer for Pakistan (10th) as they took a 2-1 lead in the 33rd minute, courtesy of Abdul Rana's goal. Sumit (45th) leveled the show for India.
In the fourth quarter, Varun Kumar (53rd) gave India the lead, which was doubled by Akashdeep Singh in the 57th minute. Ahmed Nadeem managed to pull one back for Pakistan moments later. India allowed Pakistan to crawl back and made clumsy tackles, leading to the side getting reduced to nine men, which almost proved to be catastrophic. However, they held on for a victory.
India started the tournament with a 6-0 win over Japan. In their next game, they defeated Pakistan. India humiliated hosts Bangladesh 9-0 next before playing out a 2-2 draw with South Korea. Pakistan won their first game against Bangladesh 6-2, before drawing with South Korea 3-3. They lost to India and were held for a goalless draw by Japan in their last round-robin match.
A magnificent game of 🏑 comes to an end, with the #MenInBlue managing to beat Pakistan and taking the third position in the Hero Men’s Asian Champions Trophy Dhaka 2021. 💙#IndiaKaGame #HeroACT2021 pic.twitter.com/MJCAvYjNgy
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) December 22, 2021
