Captain Harmanpreet Singh AKA 'Sarpanch' once again was the difference maker for India as he scored a brace against Pakistan in the final league match of the Hero Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament here on Saturday. It was India's fifth consecutive win in the six-team round-robin competition. Pakistan got the early lead as Ahmad Nadeem scored in the 8th minute before Harmanpreet (13th, 19th) converted two penalty corners to lead India to win. It was Pakistan's first loss in this tournament.
Both India and Pakistan have already qualified for the semifinals. The victory also enabled India to maintain their supremacy over Pakistan since 2016. In their previous meeting at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, India thrashed Pakistan 10-2. A few months before that, the Indians beat Pakistan 4-0 during the Chennai edition of the ACT.
Fans on social media went crazy after India's performance and were specially impressed by the Skipper Harmanpreet Singh who got his team over the line against Pakistan. Checkout the reactions here...
Sarpanch ka Punch
With a brace of penalty corners scored today, Captain Harmanpreet Singh completed his double century of goals today
May this goal-scoring form continue and he brings more laurels to team India#HarmanpreetSingh #GoalMachine #HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGameHockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) September 12, 2024
Whenever it is India vs Pakistan , there are no Captions required#INDvsPAK pic.twitter.com/Nj8gBwHyCY
(@GreatesOfaltime) September 14, 2024
INDIA TRASHED PAKISTAN IN ASIAN CHAMPIONS TROPHY
KMKB MOMENT #INDvsPAK pic.twitter.com/GsfsPyxY0a
(@Zimbu12_) September 14, 2024
#INDvsPAK #Baramulla #Doda pic.twitter.com/QQUgsyRkIL
Rebel_Warriors (@Rebel_Warriors) September 14, 2024
Sarpanch sahab ka koi mukabla nhi h #Harmanpreet #INDvsPAK #Hockey #ChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/vmDlna0sWG
Omprakash kaswan (@opkaswan44) September 14, 2024
Hockey ho ya cricket, ya phir army ke battlefield, India ne hamesha Pakistan ko baja ke rakha hai
Pakistan bhi soch raha hoga, "Mandir ka ghanta hu, jiska man karta hai, baja ke chala jata haiAb #Hockey mein bhi India ne bajayi Pakistan ki band
#INDvsPAK pic.twitter.com/E6TORUtN50omkarsingh (@OMKARSINGH1992) September 14, 2024
At the Asia Cup in Jakarta (2022), a relatively young Indian side held Pakistan to a 1-1 draw while at the 2021 ACT in Dhaka, India defeated Pakistan 4-3 to clinch the bronze medal.
As like any Indo-Pak hockey match, the first quarter saw end-to-end action with both the teams giving their all to gain the bragging rights.
The Indians started brightly dominating the early share of exchanges but Pakistan grew in confidence as the match progressed.
India were at the receiving end for the first time in the tournament when Pakistan drew the first blood.
It was a selfless Hannan Shahid whose brilliant work from the midfield split the Indian defence and Nadeem found himself at the right place to direct the ball into the Indian goal.
A stunned India kept up their composure and patiently built their attacks and secured their first penalty corner in the 13th minute and skipper Harmanpreet scored with a powerful drag-flick to the left of a hapless Pakistan goalkeeper Munneb.
The Indians continued to press in the second quarter and gained their second penalty corner in the 19th minute and once again Pakistan defence had no answer as Harmanpreet was bang on target as India went up 2-1.
While India were the better side in terms of possession in the second quarter, Pakistan also had their chances, penetrating the rival circle on quite a few occasions.
Just 45 seconds from half-time Pakistan had an opportunity to draw level through a penalty corner but they wasted the chance as Sufyan Khan's flick, which hit the top of the bar, was rejected for a raised ball.
The Indians sustained possession after the change of ends and secured their third penalty corner in the 37th minute, but Pakistan defended bravely.
Thereafter, a sustained spell of attacks helped Pakistanis to bag four penalty corners in quick succession but lacked the firepower to breach the Indian defence.
In the last quarter, both the sides stitched relentless attacks and India secured three more penalty corners but failed to convert. The match also witnessed a heated encounter between Harmanpreet and Pakistan's Ashraf Waheed Rana after the latter shouldered Jugraj Singh inside the Indian circle. Jugraj was felled by the impact and was seen grimacing in pain. Harmanpreet and Jarmanpreet Singh were quick to counter the offender. The on-field umpires and Pakistan captain Butt and other players of both teams rushed in to control the situation but Rana was shown yellow card, which resulted in a 10-minute suspension after the umpire went for a referral for a serious misconduct. Meanwhile, in the first match of the day, Malaysia and Korea played out a 3-3 draw. (With PTI Inputs)
