3-time champions India were stunned 3-5 by Japan in the second semi-final of Men’s Asian Champions Trophy at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Tuesday. India had topped the group stages with 3 wins in 4 matches, including a 6-0 hammering of Japan, but they lost the decisive knockout match to Japan, who troubled Manpreet Singh’s men with raw pace.

India are all set to take on Pakistan in the third-place match on Wednesday in Dhaka. Pakistan, who were joint-winners along with India 2018, lost a thrilling semi-final 5-6 to South Korea earlier in the day. India were without a few of their big names, including star goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, as the squad was picked to test their bench strength.

India had more circle penetrations – 23 as compared to Japan’s 19 and had more possession over 60 minutes but Japan were more clinical in the attacking third. Despite converting only 1 of their 6 penalty corners, Japan managed to find the back of the net 5 times.

India fought back in the second half but couldn’t get past the Japan barrier. ??

Well played, #MenInBlue. #IndiaKaGame #HeroACT2021 pic.twitter.com/IckD5pCdMK

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) December 21, 2021

India fell behind 0-2 as early as the first quarter with Shota Yamada giving Japan the lead from a penalty stroke. Raiki Fujishima scored the 2nd one as Japan took the 2-0 lead just in the 2nd minute of the match.

Dilpreet pulled one back for India but the Olympic medalists went into half-time with 1-3 scoreline. India never looked like coming back, barring the last few minutes of the final quarter. Captain Manpreet had a resigned look on his face when the final buzzer went off in Dhaka.

CAPTAIN MANPREET RUES LAZY START

“Can’t quite describe that. Not the result we wanted. We were lazy a bit at the start, conceding 2 early goals. A big lesson for us is that we can’t underestimate any team, we need to be ready for the match tomorrow (Wednesday),” captain Manpreet said after the defeat to Japan.

India need to keep their heads up and focus on the job in hand as they face Pakistan in the third-place match. India had defeated their arch-rivals 3-1 in the group-stage match last week.

The campaign in Dhaka has come as an eye-opener for India, who now have an idea about their bench strength. Graham Reid’s side will look to work on their shortcoming ahead of an important year wherein they will gun the Asian Games gold medal.