Prolific: Deepika sounded the board twice for India.
| Photograph Credit score: R.V. MOORTHY
India continued its unbeaten run within the competitors with a 3-0 win towards Japan within the remaining league match of the Asian Champions Trophy on the Rajgir Sports activities Complicated right here on Sunday and stormed into the semifinals as table-toppers.
The outcome put the 2 groups on track for a repeat conflict within the final 4, with Japan additionally reserving a spot within the knockouts because the fourth-ranked facet regardless of the loss.
This was India’s sixth win over Japan in seven encounters however Japan had gained the final time the groups confronted off earlier this 12 months, scoring the lone objective of the match to pip India for the final Olympic spot.
That ended India’s Paris hopes and led to an overhaul of all the workforce and training employees. And though the Japanese workforce right here is totally completely different, the heartbreak of that defeat continues to rankle.
It was seen within the Indian facet’s efficiency on subject, dominating fully all through with little house or alternative for Japan to get a look-in.
Japan managed a handful of entries into the circle within the first-half and barely any within the second.
The Indian defence set-up dominated all through. If something, India ought to have scored not less than a couple of extra targets however was denied as a lot as for its personal errors as Japanese goalkeeper Yu Kudo.
The previous was a results of a rush to attain whereas the latter was unpassable, bringing off three back-to-back saves off penalty corners twice within the match.
Coach Harendra Singh had admitted that the Indians solely wanted to get efficient pictures on the objective however the host appeared unable to seek out them, remaining goalless within the first half.
It required Navneet Kaur’s expertise to lastly break the impasse within the thirty seventh minute, working in with a backpass from Lalremsiami’s free hit and capturing a reverse hit into the board because the Japan defence and Kudo appeared unprepared.
It was nearly anti-climactic however anticipated after all of the well-planned efforts and strikes until then. Two PC conversions by Deepika in as many minutes at first of the ultimate quarter made it a straightforward win as India took one other step in the direction of retaining its title.
Earlier, Jinzhuang Tan transformed two of China’s 5 PCs for a 2-0 win towards Korea, which crashed out of competition for a semifinal spot. Malaysia accomplished the semifinal line-up with its second win within the competitors, a 2-0 victory towards Thailand that set it up towards China for a spot within the remaining.
The outcomes: Malaysia 2 (Nur Azhar, Nur Mohammed) bt Thailand 0; China 2 (Jinzhuang Tan 2) bt Korea 0; India 3 (Deepika 2, Navneet Kaur) bt Japan 0.
Revealed – November 17, 2024 07:22 pm IST
