China might have tested India in their group-stage encounter during the Asia Cup, but the hosts proved their superiority in the Super4 phase with a dominant 7-0 win at Rajgir Sports Complex on Saturday.
India stormed into an early lead right from the beginning, with Shilanand Lakra scoring in the fourth minute, and Dilpreet Singh adding to the tally three minutes later. Mandeep Singh scored the third goal towards the end of the second quarter after India secured their second penalty corner of the match.
Raj Kumar Pal and Sukhjeet Singh added to the advantage with goals in the 37th and 39th minutes, respectively. Abhishek wrapped up his brace in the fourth quarter, scoring in the 46th and 50th minutes, as India topped the Super4 stage with seven points to make it to the final.
They will meet South Korea in the summit final on Sunday, following the Koreans having defeated Malaysia 4-3 in their Super4 encounter to end second with four points.
India's strategy on Saturday was dependent much on the air passes and attacks that began from deep inside their half of the field, arranged by captain Harmanpreet Singh. His diagonal air balls, accurate from right to left and left to right, regularly tested the Chinese defence.
Coach Craig Fulton said that the plan was specifically meant to break China's defensive formation, which had been difficult to crack during the group stage. "They can't prevent an aerial game but if they do push out then we can play. So if they play very deep, very low and they don't really want to press or push out, then we had to devise something else. And that was the plan," Fulton added.
The strategy worked instantly. Harmanpreet's air ball from the left reached Jarmanpreet Singh within the D, who passed it across the goal line to Shilanand, who got to score in the fifth minute. Three minutes later, Dilpreet doubled the lead. Harmanpreet kept dishing out accurate aerial balls during the second quarter to Abhishek, Manpreet, and Shilanand, rattling Chinese defence even if no goals were scored from those chances.
In this time, India secured their second penalty corner. Harmanpreet's flick was blocked, but Vivek Sagar Prasad picked up the rebound and shot at goal, and Mandeep finally converted the loose ball to give them a 3-0 lead.
China attempted a comeback after the interval, but India's forwards, who were now firing in unison, consistently breached the defence. Third-quarter strikes by Raj Kumar Pal and Sukhjeet killed any hopes of revival, and Abhishek's double in the second half clinched the one-sided 7-0 victory.
Earlier, Kazakhstan had their first tournament win when they beat Chinese Taipei 6-4 and ended up seventh overall. Trained by Olga Urmanova — who must be the sole female coach of a men's side — Kazakhstan were thrilled with the win, taking revenge for their AHF Cup semi-final loss against the same team.
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