Full Time! And with that, we come to the end of the match, as India notch up their first win of the Hockey Asia Cup 2017. The Indians have put up a supreme display today, completely running through the Japanese defence. While the first half between the two sides was a bit close, Japan completely lost the plot in Q3, ans India ran through their defence. That's all from us here, at Sportskeeda, Stay tuned for more news from the world of sports.
Its an end to end affair, as India break on the counter from that PC. However, the Japan defenders run them down, and launch a counter attack of their own, which also comes to no avail.
Penalty Corner! Manpreet receives the PC, passes to hermanpreet, who unleashes his shot, but the JApan GK blocks it. However, that was a rather painful save for the Japan keeper, who waas hit on the shoulder with the ball.
Sunil latches on to a lose ball in the opposition half, and plays it through to Akashdeep, who switches to his left side, and shoots for the far post. However, it ws too wide, and there was nobody there at the other end, to tap it in.
Gurjan breaks into the circle through the left flank, and cuts it back, but there was nobody there to capitalise on the space, as the ball rolls away to the side-lines.
Ramandeep is seen lying on the turf, holding his ankle, as the stretcher is brought on. However, he seems to have gotten back to his feet, as he limps towards the bench. Doesn't seem to be a major injury.
Japan had a hope of getting a penalty stroke there, as the umpires went upstairs to check whether there was a stick-on-stick inside the melee in the India penalty area. However, the TV umpire ruled that no such contact happened.
Penalty corner! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!!!!!!!! What a goal that was! Harpanpreet scores his second goal of the game from a penalty corner, aafter Ramandeep did a wonderful 360-spin to negate the first wave of Japanese defenders. Harmanpreet's shot was so powerful that the ball burst through the net and sailed away behind the goal.
CHANCE! Sunil finds himself in the left side of the circle with the ball. He squares it to Akashdeep, who just has the Japan keeper to beat....shis shot is too week and it is kicked away.
Akashdeep plays a through ball to Ramandeep on the left flank, and the latter has acres of space to run onto it. However, the space seems a bit too much, and Ramandeen did not have enough pace to run on to the ball.
Ramandeep and Sunil play a quick one-two inside the box, and make their way towards the goal, but they ran out of space there, as the ball rolls over the by-line.
GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! India are well and truly on top of the game now. Hermanpreet flicks in a penalty corner past the first wave of Japanese defenders, and past the goalkeeper.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ramandeep received the ball inside the area, and smashed it on half volley and smashed it in from a narrow angle. The umpire immediately awarded the goal, but Japan called for a video referral. The main bone of contention was whether the ball went through a hole in the net and went in from the outside. After a long referral, the television umpire awarded the goal. Japan lose their referral.
HALF TIME! India go into half time with a 2-1 lead, as SV Sunil and Lalit scored the two goal on both sides of the first quarter break. Japan did level the scores with a Kenji Kitazato strike, but India came back to dominate the game, and take the lead in Q2.
This match is far from over. While India hold the upper hand for now, Japan have shown the ability to make swift counters against the run of play. However, with 71% of possession, India have completely dominated the match.
JApan make a swift move from the right flank, and cross it into the box. However, there was nobody there in the centre to meet the cross, and the chance is wasted.
Sunil plays a lovely one-two with Lalit on the left flank, before the latter jinked his way to the by-line, dribbling past a couple of defenders to enter the box. However, his cut back was cleared away for a long corner.
GOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LALIT comes up with the goods, as he latches on to a long range pass, dummies a Japan defender, and takes a left handed shot, into the top corner.
Akashdeep makes some space from the right side of the and shoots from the wrong side again, but the angle was too narrow. His shot whizzes past the post.
And with that, the first quarter comes to an end, with both the sides being locked at 1-1. SV Sunil had put India in the lead, but Kenji Kitazato equalised for the Japanese.
Sunil is all over the place, as he drops back, steals the ball, and plays Akashdeep through for a counter attack. The forward switched to his left side and pulled the trigger, but his shot was wide.
SV Sunil weaves his way into the penalty area from the right and squared it to Akashdeep, who only had to tap it in. However, his shot was straight at the Japan keeper.
Akashdeep Singh seems to be providing a lot of impetus to the India attack down the left flank, as he soars towards the JApan penalty area. However, he runs into a crowd of defenders, and the attack ends abruptly.
We have gotten off to a flying start here, in Dhaka. Its end to end stuff here, as both the sides look to get the early goals. SV Sunil got the firt goal for India, but Japan soon pulled one back, to level the scores at 1-1.
India are all set to kick off their Hockey Asia Cup campaign in Dhaka, on Wednesday, as they face off against Japan, in their opening Group A match.
The Hockey Asia Cup has been a bit of a three-horse race with just three teams actually being able to win the title so far -- South Korea (4 times), Pakistan (3 times) and India (2 times).
However, India have been the more consistent side throughout the history of the tournament, making it to a total of seven finals, as opposed to Pakistan’six and Japan’s four.
India are set to be lead by Manpreet Singh, and will be looking at this tournament as a means to qualify for the World Cup.
They have been dealt a huge blow in defence, as Kothajit Sigh has been ruled out due to an injury. However, India have called up Amit Rohidas, who had previously excelled on India’s tour of Belgium and the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, Japan will be seeking at least a qualifying spot for the World Cup, which means that they will be looking to get the points whenever they get them. With India and Pakistan being present in their group, it could turn out to be a difficult proposition, but the Japanese do have a few tricks up their sleeves.
India Squad:
Harmanpreet Singh, Akash Chikte, Surender Kumar, Manpreet Singh (capt.), Sardar Singh, Gurjant Singh, Dipsan Tirkey, Suraj Karkera, Lalit Upadhyay, Uthappa Sannuvanda, Sumit, Amit Rohidas, Varun Kumar, Sunil Sowmarpet, Satbir Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Chinglensana Kangujam and Ramandeep Singh
Japan Squad:
Koji Yamasaki, Shota Yamada, Miyu Tanimitsu, Genki Mitani, Seren Tanaka, Hiromasa Ochiai, Kazuma Murata, Suguru Hoshi, Kenta Tanaka, Kenji Kitazato, Heita Yoshihara, Manabu Yamashita, Kaito Tanaka, Kota Watanabe, Tsubasa Yamamizu, Masaki Ohashi, Takashi Yoshikawa, Suguru Shimmoto
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Man of the match: Harmanpreet Singh