Asian Hockey Champions Trophy: India Kicks Off Title Defense with 3-0 Victory Over Hosts China

The Indian men's hockey team won their first match against hosts China 3-0 at the Moqi Hockey Training Base on Sunday in the Asian Champions Trophy 2024.

Sukhjeet Singh (14'), Uttam Singh (27'), and Abhishek (32') scored for India. Meanwhile, Gurjot Singh made his India debut during the match.

Defending champions India, meanwhile, got off to a slow start as China looked prepared and fashioned an early counter-attack opportunity, but an alert Krishan Pathak made sure the ball went wide. In the final minutes of the first quarter, India pushed China back before winning a few circle entries without a clear-cut chance until Jugraj Singh fired the ball into the shooting circle to allow Sukhjeet to cleverly deflect into the top corner for a 1-0 lead.

India went ahead, pushing China into their half, and the latter relied on counter-attacks. In the nick of time, just before halftime, Uttam Singh scored the second goal as he slotted home a loose ball after the goalkeeper deflected away Raheel's shot from close range.

In the third quarter, an alert Manpreet found Abhishek at the top of the circle and the latter-powered the ball into the backboard as India went 3-0 ahead.

The final quarter was also pretty similar, with Gurjot Singh terrorizing the Chinese defense before setting up Abhishek, whose reverse shot flew just past the post. Soon after, China's second keeper Weihao Wang kept out Harmanpreet's drag flick. With two minutes to go, China won a penalty corner-their sixth of the game-that keeper Suraj Karkera had to keep out. In the end, the late Chinese push could not pierce the Indian defense.

The captain Harmanpreet, after the match praised his team's performance: "I think we played very well. We created some good chances, but the best part is that we kept a clean sheet. Some new faces got an opportunity to perform, and I think they played very well. It's a good opportunity for them to play with the Asian teams and gel with the senior team. They are skilful and very talented. I wish them the best for the future."