Captain Harmanpreet Singh got his second, and India’s 5th goal in the 59th minute of the match and finally allowed himself a smile. The result was sealed, gold assured and an Olympic ticket confirmed as the Indian men’s hockey team registered an emphatic 5-1 win against defending champion Japan to reclaim the Asian Games title in Hangzhou on October 6.
Harmanpreet’s brief smile expressed several emotions in that second — pride, happiness but most importantly, relief. The title win assured the Indian team will now have the rest of the period up to the 2024 Olympics to prepare for it without worrying about the qualification process or planning around the qualifiers. With the likes of Belgium, Germany and Britain yet to qualify, the qualifiers would be a slippery road the team has done well to avoid.
It was also a moment of finally laying the spectre of 2018 Games to rest. Despite the Tokyo Olympics bronze medal and a gradual rise in rankings since then, the loss in Jakarta has been an albatross around the team’s neck, haunting the players from that team, specially Harmanpreet. The dominating performance in the final was the stamp of self-approval the team needed and gave itself.
It started on a fast note and stayed so till the end. India, ranked 12 places above Japan, was the favourite. It decided to take charge and control of the game, going on the offensive early on trying to get the lead. The Indians kept going up and into the circle. Everyone in the forward line — Abhishek, Shamsher, Mandeep, Sukhjeet — tried but were unable to get a shot at the goal or break the Japanese defence.
The game was restricted to the opposition half as the Indians moved en masse up the field from both flanks and the middle but Japan held firm. Abhishek produced a brilliant chance from nothing in the 11th minute, stealing the ball at halfline and running away with it before crossing inside but Manpreet was unable to control it. Japan barely got a look at the Indian goal as the Indian defence swatted every attempt aside with precision.
Two PCs went waste too but the former captain made amends, slotting in a rebound from the top of the circle in the 25th minute to break the deadlock and Japan’s resilience. That was the opening India needed and even though the scoreline only read 1-0 at half time — hardly a lead in modern hockey — the proceedings on field had India written all over it. The World No. 3 side was fitter, stronger, more skilled and clearly better prepared for the big game.
Harmanpreet finally converted a PC in the 32nd minute soon after resumption, Amit got one of his own four minutes later and the first time Japan reached anywhere close to the Indian 23-yard circle was in the last 30 seconds of the 3rd quarter, such was India’s control. Hardik was again the lynchpin but every time he moved up – or down – Vivek Sagar Prasad and Sumit seamlessly stepped into the role. Nilakanta Sharma, as always, was the untiring beating heart of the team, everywhere all at once. The Indian goalkeepers kept themselves busy screaming instructions from the back but had little to do otherwise. And when Abhishek stuck a brilliant one in the 48th after being put through by Hardik from just outside the circle, it was all but over.
With nothing to lose, Japan upped the ante and went for broke in the final 15 minutes, attacking with fury and running and overlapping non-stop, trying to find a breakthrough. They did get one, the first PC of the game – a testament to India’s impeccable defence — in the 51st minute and Seren Tanaka got his name on the scoresheet but that was to be the only blip in what was otherwise a near-perfect game for India. Not big enough to stop Harmanpreet from smiling.
