Asian Champions Trophy 2023 hockey: India beat China to start campaign on a high

The Indian men’s hockey team beat the People’s Republic of China 7-2 in its opening match of the Asian Champions Trophy 2023 at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai on Thursday.

With the win, the Indian hockey team go top of the Asian Champions Trophy standings based on superior goal difference.

Harmanpreet Singh (5’, 8’), Sukhjeet Singh (15’), Akashdeep Singh (16’) Varun Kumar (19’, 30’) and Mandeep Singh (40’) scored to help India to a massive win while E Wenhui (18’) and Jiesheng Gao (25’) netted for China.

Before the match, India’s Amit Rohidas and Sumit were felicitated for making their 150th and 100th international appearances, respectively.

India, fourth in the FIH men’s hockey rankings, went on the offensive right from the start, pushing world No, 25 China on the backfoot.

India maintained possession and attacked the opponent's half with long balls. The strategy worked immediately as India took the lead minutes into the game via a penalty corner. Captain Harmanpreet Singh drove the ball past the Chinese goalkeeper to hand India a 1-0 lead. Minutes later, Harmanpreet Singh doubled India’s lead from the second penalty corner.

Indian fans in Chennai didn’t have to wait too long to cheer a third goal as Sukhjeet Singh scored from a rebound after Varun Kumar’s drag flick was saved by the Chinese custodian. The first quarter ended with India leading 3-0.

India carried the momentum into the second quarter and quickly got the fourth goal of the match. Akashdeep Singh stormed into the Chinese half and found the back of the goal with a well-placed shot.

China, though, pulled one back against the run of play as they made the most of defensive lapse by the Indian defence and scored their first goal of the match. Varun Kumar failed to intercept an aerial pass and China’s E Wenhui made sure he slammed it past the diving Indian goalkeeper Krishan Pathak.

Stung by the goal, India attacked with verve and restored their four-goal cushion soon after. Varun Kumar made up for his defensive error and made it 5-1 for India from a penalty corner.

Varun Kumar scored again just before the break to make it 6-2 for India heading into half-time. Gao Jiesheng scored the second for China in between Kumar’s two strikes.

The second half saw India extend their margin of victory with Mandeep Singh scoring from a penalty corner in the third quarter. That match ended 7-2 in India’s favour.

The Indian men’s hockey team will play Japan next in the Asian Champions Trophy 2023 on Friday. Japan lost 1-2 to the Republic of Korea in their opening encounter on Thursday.