Women's Hockey Asia Cup: India vs Japan, where to watch, preview, prediction, and team news

The Indians began their Women's Hockey Asia Cup campaign with a clinical 11-0 win against Thailand in Hangzhou, China, on Friday (September 5). Harendra Singh's team will now face their first major test of the tournament when they take on defending champions Japan in their second Pool B game on Saturday.

A win against Japan will strengthen India's position in the group ahead of their final preliminary round match against Singapore. The top two sides from each pool in the eight-team competition will advance to the Super 4s stage of the tournament.

The winner of the Women's Hockey Asia Cup will book a place in the 2026 FIH Women's World Cup. India first won the tournament at home in New Delhi back in 2004 before registering a second win in Kakamigahara, Japan, in 2017.

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Goals galore to kick things off! 🙌 India Women secure a comprehensive 11–0 win over Thailand in their Pool B opener of the Women’s Asia Cup 2025. #HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #WomensAsiaCup

Currently ranked 10th as per the FIH, the Salima Tete-led side has had the upper hand against 12th-ranked Sakura Japan in recent times.

The Indians beat Japan 3-0 in the preliminaries of the Asian Champions Trophy in Rajgir last year before going on to defeat the 2018 Asian Games gold medalists by a 2-0 scoreline in the semifinals.

Navneet Kaur and Sangita Kumari helped their side to a 2-1 win against Japan in the round-robin league stage of the 2023 Ranchi Asian Champions Trophy as well.

In the absence of star drag-flicker Deepika, who was injured during training ahead of the Asia Cup, the Indians performed reasonably well with their penalty corners against Thailand. The Women in Blue were, however, fortunate that a couple of less-than-powerful slap shots found their way into the back of the net in the final quarter against a tiring Thai defence.

Bichu Devi had little to do in front of the goal, even as the forward line ran riot in the Thai circle, but the Indian custodian will need to be at her best against the Japanese, who notched up 9 unanswered goals against Singapore.

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India vs Japan, Women's Hockey Asia Cup, match details

Match Details: India vs Japan, Pool Match, Women's Hockey Asia Cup 2025

Date & Time: Saturday, September 6, 2025, 4:30 PM IST

Venue: Hangzhou, China

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India vs Japan: Women's Hockey Asia Cup Prediction

Early goals would hand the Indians a distinct advantage against the Japanese girls, but having to play catch-up could be another ball game altogether, with Deepika not in the side. Harendra Singh's chargers missed a few sitters against Thailand and will need to do better with their penalty corners if they are to beat Yu Kudo in goal.

Score Prediction: India 3 - 1 Japan

Where to watch Women's Asia Cup 2025 matches in India?

Live telecast of the Women's Asia Cup 2025 is available on the Sony Sports Ten 2 channel, and the matches will be streamed live on the Watch Hockey app.