Akashdeep Singh helps Team India win the Finals of the Asia Cup 2023
Team India managed to make a comeback from a 1-3 deficit to defeat Malaysia by a 4-3 margin in the final of the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai on Saturday.
For India, Jugraj Singh (ninth minute PC), Harmanpreet Singh (45′, penalty stroke), Gurjant Singh (45′), and Akashdeep Singh (56′) were on the scoreboard. The two goals India scored at the end of the third quarter turned the game around.
India defeated Japan in the semi-finals by 5-0, while Malaysia beat South Korea by 6-2. In the round-robin league, India blanked Malaysia 5-0.
It was as close to a complete performance as they come for India in the semi-finals against Japan. While the defense did not give anything away, India did not concede even one penalty corner, which allowed Japan to enter their ‘D’ only eight times and let just one shot on goal. The attackers were at their imaginative best.
There were five different goal scorers and four field goals, with each being better than the previous—a show of patience, skill, creativity, and audacity.