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On Sunday, India faced Malaysia, Pakistan met Japan, and the defending champions South Korea locked horns with China in the Asian Champions Trophy 2023, at Chennai.
In the first match on Sunday, China opened their account in the tournament after securing a draw against the defending champions South Korea. After a couple of forgettable matches, China produced a better display to hold South Korea 1-1 in the first game on Sunday.
The veteran Jonghun Jang scored the first goal of the match in the 18th minute. Both teams continued to defend well and kept things tight. In the 43rd minute, Chen Chongcong scored an equaliser and helped China secure their first point in the tournament.
Pakistan and Japan found it hard in the second match, which ended in a draw as well. Pakistan began the proceedings with Abdul Rana scoring in the 9th minute. The Japan skipper Seren Tanaka responded well to score the equaliser in the 13th minute.
Pakistan fought back, and with the support of the Chennai crowd, Muhammad Khan gave Pakistan the lead in the 25th minute. While Pakistan missed a couple of opportunities to score in the 3rd quarter, Ryosei Kato did not miss his chance to produce the equaliser.
A few minutes later, Ohashi Masaki gained the lead for Japan. Pakistan needed a miracle to breach Japan's defence and it was provided by Muhammad Khan in the dying moments of the match as Pakistan secured a draw at 3-3.
In the final match of the day, India met Malaysia in the battle for the top spot. The hosts dominated right from the start and even had two circle penetrations right within the first five minutes of the match.
Karthi Selvam fired the first goal for the hosts in the 15th minute of the match. India missed out on converting a couple of penalty corners but went into the 3rd quarter with a lead.
Hardik Singh extended the Indian team's lead by converting the penalty corner during the 3rd quarter. India's skipper Harmanpreet Singh then scored the third goal for India as he converted the penalty corner in the 3rd quarter.
India continued to dominate the final quarter as well. Despite missing out on three penalty corners, India found two more goals, courtesy of Gurjant and Jugraj Singh, to end with 5-0. They gained the top spot in the Asian Champions Trophy points table.
Asian Champions Trophy 2023 Points Table: Updated after Match 9
After match 9 in the Asian Champions Trophy, India moved to the top of the points table, thanks to their thumping win over Malaysia. The hosts remain unbeaten in the tournament after three matches. Malaysia drops to the second spot with six points to their name.
South Korea, after securing a draw against China, stays in the third spot with five points. China continues to stay at the bottom of the table with one point. Japan and Pakistan are placed in the fourth and fifth spots of the Asian Champions Trophy points table, respectively. Though both teams have two points, Japan are ahead of Pakistan because of goal difference.
