Skipper Harmanpreet Singh credited India’s recent success to strong team camaraderie, emphasising that their deep bond and willingness to “die for one another” helped them overcome China to win the Asian Champions Trophy for a record-extending fifth time. India rode on Jugraj Singh’s late strike to defeat China 1-0 in a tense final in Hulunbuir on Tuesday. Pakistan won the bronze medal with a 5-2 win over South Korea. “The final was really intense; the Chinese were breathing down our necks throughout the game and made it really difficult for us to create a clear goal scoring chance,” Harmanpreet said in a Hockey India release.

“But the team over the last year has built immense trust in each other. We are willing to die for one another. It was this sense of unity reassuring us that we will find a way to win the game together.” Harmanpreet said India’s successful run in last one year has instilled a strong belief among players.

“The gold medal in last year’s Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai, the gold medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games and the bronze from the Paris 2024 Olympics have instilled a deep camaraderie within the team.” Harmanpreet, who has been shortlisted for FIH’s Player-of-the-Year Award after scoring 10 goals at Paris, once again led from the front as the team remained unbeaten in the competition.

Out of India’s 26 goals in the competition, Harmanpreet scored seven and all were from penalty corners.

Harmanpreet said it is now crucial for India to keep building on the success.

“We are proud to have retained our title but the work doesn’t stop now,” he said.

“We have areas we need to improve; we need to build depth in our squad as well. The team will head back to camp after a short break and start preparing for the tournaments ahead to make our supporters proud again,” he added.

India vice-captain Vivek Sagar Prasad said the Olympics bronze medal made India the “team to beat” in the tournament.

“All the teams in the group stage were tough to play against. The bronze medal from the Olympics painted a target on our backs; we were the team to beat,” he said.

“But every single person on the team stepped up to make it seem like we were cruising past our opponents. The youngsters slotted in seamlessly, Krishan and Suraj alternated to bail us out of tricky situations.” “The defenders remained reliable, and the midfielders and forwards ran riot on the pitch. All in all, it was very enjoyable,” he added.

Hulunbuir (China):

A determined India claimed their fifth Asian Champions Trophy title with a fighting 1-0 victory over hosts China on Tuesday, completing a display of absolute dominance in the tournament in which they won all their matches. Defender Jugraj Singh scored a rare field goal as the defending champions toiled hard before getting the better of their opponents. It was not easy for the Harmanpreet Singh-led India as they failed to break the Chinese defence in the first three quarters. Eventually, Jugraj broke the deadlock in the 51st minute to hand the Paris Olympics bronze medallists the win against a resolute Chinese side, which was playing in only its second international tournament final.

Before this, China’s only appearance in the final of an international tournament was in 2006 Asian Games, where they finished second-best after losing 1-3 to Korea.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan defeated Korea 5-2 to bag the third spot in the six-team competition.

India started the contest as favourites, having defeated China 3-0 in their opening league game, but the final turned out to be a very close affair.

It was a keenly-contested battle between the two sides in the first two quarters, even though India had better scoring chances.

The Chinese defended deep and troubled their rivals with brisk counter attacks.

Raj Kumar Pal had the first shy at the goal for India but his effort was saved by Chinese goalkeeper Wang Weihao.

Raj Kumar recovered well enough and earned India’s first penalty corner in the 10th minute with some brilliant stick work, which resulted in another set piece but skipper Harmanpreet was off target with the second try.

Two minutes later, Nilakanta Sharma saw a sharp save from Wang and then, the Chinese goalkeeper showed brilliant reflexes to deny Sukhjeet Singh after being fed by Jugraj.

Seconds from the end of the first quarter, India conceded a penalty corner but Krishan Bahadur Pathak was alert in front of the goal.

The script was the same in the second quarter with India enjoying most of the possession and China relying on counters.

India pressed for goal in the face of a brilliant display of deep defending from China. The hosts didn’t panic, and stayed calm when put under pressure by the Indians.

In the 27th minute, Sukhjeet Singh secured a penalty corner but Harmanpreet’s attempt hit the post, as China did enough to hold India goalless at half time.

The nimble-footed Chinese came out with renewed vigour after the change of ends, mounting a series of attacks on the Indian citadel.

China secured their second penalty corner in the 38th minute but the Indians defence was up to the task.

The Chinese continued their aggressive intent, earning back-to-back penalty corners in the 40th minute but India goalkeeper Pathak was alert under the bar.

The young Indian forwardline, which produced a fine performance in the tournament, too had its chances and penetrated the Chinese defence on a number of occasions but failed to find the target.

It required a brilliant burst from Harmanpreet to finally break the deadlock.

The in-form India captain sneaked into the Chinese circle with some fine stick work and neatly passed the ball to fellow defender Jugraj, who pushed it in past the opposition goalkeeper, as India heaved a sigh of relief.

With the home crowd backing them, China withdrew their goalkeeper for an extra field player four minutes from the hooter, but the Indians managed to keep the ball in their control and defended in numbers to emerge triumphant.

The Asian Champions Trophy 2024 came to an end on Tuesday with India winning a record-extending fifth title beating hosts China 1-0 in the final in Hulunbuir. A new-look Indian team stayed unbeaten throughout the tournament to take home the trophy. China, playing their first Asian Champions Trophy final, put up a great show but Jugraj Singh’s lone goal in the fourth quarter sealed the deal for India in the title clash. Pakistan, on the other hand, beat Korea in the third-place playoff. 

During the final, a visual from the official broadcasters showed Pakistan players holding the Chinese flag. The commentator said that it was clear whom they were supporting.  Interestingly, Pakistan had lost to China in the semi-final. 

The image of the incident soon went viral on social media. 

Pakistan hockey team supports China in AFC Asian Champions Trophy final

China is playing against India#HockeyIndia #India#Hockey #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/PTWCSKFobq

— Thakur Divya Prakash (@Divyaprakas8) September 17, 2024

I m so sorry for these Pakistan hockey players and their coach, who were supporting China today..

India 1-0 China.

We have won the Asian Champions Trophy for the second consecutive time ! pic.twitter.com/i6zvpA7HZ4

— John Oldman (@PrasunNagar) September 17, 2024

India Hockey Team won their 5th Asian Champions Trophy (The Most by any asian team).

Congratulations @TheHockeyIndia

But, Pakistan Hockey Team were caught supporting China #INDvCHN#AsianChampionsTrophy2024 pic.twitter.com/6TJBKikQbD

— Richard Kettleborough (@RichKettle07) September 17, 2024

Pakistan ended their campaign at the Hero Asian Champions Trophy with a 5-2 win against Korea, scoring them the bonze Medal here at the Moqi Hockey Training Base in the China Daur Ethnic Park on Tuesday.

It was goals by Sufyan Khan (38′, 49′), Hannan Shahid (39′, 54′) and Rooman (45′) who scored in Pakistan’s victory while Jungjun Lee (16′), Jihun Yang (40′) scored for Korea.

After a poor start, Pakistan, who were handed a disappointing loss in the semifinal by hosts China, made great amends to their game to bounce back in the second half of the match to clinch a thriller.

It was Korea who drew the first blood in the 16th minute when Jungjun Lee made a spectacular tackle to drive past Pakistan’s Hannan Shahid and make space in the top of the circle. He simply lofted the ball into the net, past Pakistan’s goalie Ishtiaq Abdullah Khan.

However, they came back from the 10-minute half-time break with determination and grit to bounce back. It was Hero of the Match Sufyan Khan who struck a splendid penalty corner in the 38th minute to equalise. Breathing life back into their attack, Hannan Shahid, who has displayed great form in this tournament, set up a stupendous field goal in the following minute. Making a fine dribble into the 15m mark, Hannan set up Salman Razzaq to score but his deflection was slightly off the mark but Hannan came up with a fine finish to nudge the ball past Korean goalie Jaehan Kim.

Though Korea equalised in the 40th minute through Jihun Yang’s penalty corner to keep the match in a 2-2 stalemate, it didn’t deter Pakistan’s spirit. They scored a field goal in the 45th minute through Rooman to regain the lead. Putting the Korean attack under pressure, Pakistan did well to come up with structured man-to-man marking in the final quarter to ensure they stay in lead.

Meanwhile, a brilliantly earned penalty corner in the 49th minute was perfectly executed by Pakistan’s ace dragflicker Sufyan, making it his double in the match and taking his personal tally in the tournament to four goals.

In the 54th minute, Hannan converted a stupendous field goal to take Pakistan’s lead to a formidable 5-2. This was Hannan’s sixth goal of the tournament and it was set-up by Rana Waheed Ashraf with a good assist in front of the goal-mouth. With goalie Muneeb Ur-Rehman replacing Ishtiaq in the last quarter, Pakistan defence held sway, did not allow Korea any circle penetration and held on to a well-earned victory.

With IANS inputs