Asian Champions Trophy 2024: Team India beat Korea to enter Final. (X)
Team India posted a dominant 4-1 win over Korea in the semis to punch their ticket in the final of the event where they will play hosts China.
Team India posted a dominant 4-1 win over Korea in the semifinal of the Asian Champions Trophy 2024 in China on Monday to punch their ticket to the final of the event where they will play hosts China.
Indian skipper Harmanpreet Singh netted a brace, while Uttam Singh and Jarmanpreet Singh also found the back of the net in the victory, to maintain their unbeaten streak at the campaign in China.
Korea netted their only goal of the evening through Yang Jihun, however, the strike proved to be nothing more than a consolation as the men in blue cruised into their second final in as many years.
Uttam broke the deadlock early in the game with his 12th-minute strike on the back of some incredible stick work from the Indian unit. The holders doubled their lead through a penalty corner as captain Harmanpreet hammered the ball home.
Jarmanpreet piled on the Korean misery with a strike to triple the lead for the defending champions, but Korea were afforded hope through Jihun’s effort shortly after.
However, any chances of a Korean fightback were put to bed by Indian skipper Harmanpreet, who found the back of the net with a venomous drag-flick, as he made the most of a PC yet again.
India had a couple of brilliant opportunities to further extend the lead in the final quarter fo the game, but Sukhjit’s effort from close range went wide of the mark, similar to a couple of other ventures into the danger area by both sides in the final knocking of the game.
However, India never seemed to have been troubled in their statement triumph over the Koreans on the day and will enter the final against the home side on Tuesday brimming with confidence thanks to their unbeaten run in the campaign so far.
China beat Pakistan in a shootout in the first semifinal of the day after the match was tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation time. The hosts posted a 2-1 win in the shootout to reach the summit clash at home.