Vikrant Shekhawat : Jul 30, 2021, 06:07 PM
Indian men's hockey continues its impressive run at the Tokyo Olympics. India beat hosts Japan 5-3 in their last Pool A match on Friday. Gurjant Singh (17th and 56th minute) scored the highest two goals for India. Apart from Gurjant, Harmanpreet Singh scored 13th, Shamsher Singh 34th and Neelkant Sharma scored in the 51st minute. On the other hand, Kenta Tanaka scored in the 19th minute, Kota Watanabe in the 33rd and Kazuma Murata in the 59th minute for Japan. .India had already secured their place in the quarter-finals, but with this victory, they will go into the last eight with a boost of morale. India will face the third-placed team in Pool B in the quarter-finals. India defeated New Zealand, Spain and Argentina besides Japan in the pool stage but lost to Australia.India completely dominated the first quarter. In the sixth minute of the game, Vivek Sagar Prasad had a chance to give India the lead, but he could not beat the Japanese goalkeeper. In the 13th minute of the game, Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty corner to give India a 1-0 lead. This was Harmanpreet Singh's fourth goal in the Tokyo Olympics.
Both the teams displayed aggressive hockey in the second quarter game. In the 17th minute of the game, Gurjant Singh scored a fine pass from Simranjit Singh to give India a 2-0 lead. Two minutes later, Indian defender Birender Lakra made a mistake in the defence, due to which Kenta Tanaka opened the account of the Japan team by scoring a goal.In the 33rd minute of the game, Kota Watanabe scored Japan to equalize. This happiness of the Japanese team did not last long. The very next minute, Shamsher Singh converted a pass from Neelkant Sharma to put India 3-2 ahead.The last quarter was completely in India's favor and Team India scored two goals in it. In the 51st minute of the game, Neelkant Sharma scored a fine pass from Surendra Kumar to put India 4-2 ahead. Then in the 56th minute of the game, Gurjant scored a penalty corner to give the team a decisive 5-2 lead. Kazuma Murata did score a brilliant goal in the 59th minute of the game, but it was too late.Significantly, India have been placed in Pool A along with defending champions Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Spain. The top four teams from both the groups will advance to the next stage. Belgium, Canada, Germany, UK, Netherlands and South Africa are in Group B. India finished second in their group with four wins and one loss.
Both the teams displayed aggressive hockey in the second quarter game. In the 17th minute of the game, Gurjant Singh scored a fine pass from Simranjit Singh to give India a 2-0 lead. Two minutes later, Indian defender Birender Lakra made a mistake in the defence, due to which Kenta Tanaka opened the account of the Japan team by scoring a goal.In the 33rd minute of the game, Kota Watanabe scored Japan to equalize. This happiness of the Japanese team did not last long. The very next minute, Shamsher Singh converted a pass from Neelkant Sharma to put India 3-2 ahead.The last quarter was completely in India's favor and Team India scored two goals in it. In the 51st minute of the game, Neelkant Sharma scored a fine pass from Surendra Kumar to put India 4-2 ahead. Then in the 56th minute of the game, Gurjant scored a penalty corner to give the team a decisive 5-2 lead. Kazuma Murata did score a brilliant goal in the 59th minute of the game, but it was too late.Significantly, India have been placed in Pool A along with defending champions Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Spain. The top four teams from both the groups will advance to the next stage. Belgium, Canada, Germany, UK, Netherlands and South Africa are in Group B. India finished second in their group with four wins and one loss.