Key Points
India claimed their first title in the Asian Champions Trophy in Hockey on Tuesday, September 17. In their heart-heating face-off with China the men in blue registered a narrow 1-0 win. Despite initially looking like the match is heading towards a tie-breaker Jugraj Singh, who entered the field as a substitute player, broke the Chinese deadlock proving their supremacy in the game. His goal sealed the victory for India as other Indian stars were having a hard time getting past China’s goalkeeper Wang Weihao. Hence without any further ado let’s check out the highlight of the event.
The highlights of India vs China Asian Champions Trophy Final
India’s first penalty corner came in the 10th minute of the game although Harmanpreet Singh failed to breach the Chinese defence as the ball hit the defender’s foot. Despite getting another chance, he failed this time as well since the ball flew wide of the post.
In the 14th minute, India’s other attempt by Sukhjeet failed as the Chinese goalkeeper’s spectacular defense denied a goal in the first quarter.
As the hosts seemed particularly focused about the defence, very few players arrived in the Indian box to make any valuable runs.
Therefore, in the second half they totally changed their game to an aggressive one putting India under an immense pressure.
After the multiple attempts the Indian players were able to thrash the Chinese deadlock with nine minutes and 34 seconds left on the clock with the amazing goal of Jugraj. The crucial goal of this super-sub made a massive impact in the game helping them seal their victory. Skipper Harmanpreet set-up the lone goal while breaking the defensive line of China from the constant pressure of the Indian in the final quarter.
Despite a hard to equalise the score the Chinese failed to defend the Indians making them fifth winner of the Asian Champions Trophy.
Ranking 23rd the Chinese team showed an incredible team spirit and talents in the head-to-head combat against India, the top-ranked Asian team in hockey.
They might have not lived up to the exceptions, still the players didn’t disappoint the home fans with their solid defensive efforts putting India in an immense pressure for the first three quarters. China strives to dominate possession, but unfortunately fails to break the strong defensive line of India.
Check out the complete highlights:
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