India looks set for a top-four finish after defeating Japan 9-0 in the third Round Robin match of the Asian Champions Trophy on Sunday, at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, Muscat, Oman.
India, for the first time in this tournament, scored goals in each quarter against the Asian Games gold medallist and was superior in every department despite playing with ten men for 13 minutes.
Lalit Upadhyay opened the scoring in the fourth minute off a counter attack when Akashdeep burst into space on the left channel and passed it to Lalit lurking at the near post. India scored from its first penalty corner of the match when Gurjant slotted home a rebound of Harmanpreet's drag-flick.
Read: As it happened
Japan looked to take some initiative in the attack, but was unable to test P.R. Sreejesh in the goal, as Harmanpreet added two more — first from a penalty stroke in the 17th minute and a drag-flick into the left bottom corner in the 21st minute.
Akashdeep, who bagged the man of the match award, added the fifth in the 36th minute by starting with a run from the right and finished at the near post.
Sumeet scored the sixth goal in the 42nd minute when he managed a minuscule touch on Kothajit's hit from the edge of the circle. Lalit got his second goal of the match just before the end of the third quarter after turning his marker inside out on the edge of the circle.
Mandeep added gloss to the scoreline in the final quarter by scoring goals in the 49th and 56th minutes as India ended the match 9-0. With this win, India tops the table with nine points, followed by Tuesday's opponent Malaysia on 6 points and Pakistan and Japan in third and fourth positions.
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