Asian Champions Trophy 2023 Day 4 HIGHLIGHTS: India, Malaysia book semifinal spots, Pakistan beats China 2-1

India goes to the top of the points table with the win. It had to work hard but it held on through the end to prevail.

Hardik and Jugraj run the clock down by keeping the ball near the corner of the field in the Korea half.

Korea gets a circle entry but Cheoleon Park commits a foul and the chance goes begging.

Jihun Yang sounds the board! It is 3-2. Sends the drag flick into the bottom right corner. 02:55 left in the contest and it is going to be a cracker of a finish.

Sreejesh makes a double save but Korea has another shot at scoring as it wins a penalty corner.

India again spot on with its rushing. Harmanpreet and Manpreet put up a solid defence and keep Jihun Yang at bay.

Another penalty corner for Korea. Jigwang Hyun’s shot from the right flank hits Jarmanpreet on the foot.

A double save by Jaehyeon Kim. He first saves Mandeep’s tomahawk from close range. Sukhjeet gets to the rebound and Kim denies him too.

Korea with a series of penalty corners. Amit Rohidas and Manpreet doing a phenomenal job at rushing the Korea battery. The fourth attempt ends the sequence as Jang hits it off target.

MISS! Harmanpreet’s stroke is saved by Jaehyeon Kim with a dive to his right.

India wins a penalty corner. Harmanpreet’s drag flick comes off the foot of Jang at the line which yields a penalty stroke for India.

India manages to extend its lead in the third period. Still no reason to get complacent and lose shape.

In the final minutes of the quarter, Hardik gave away possession a couple of times which nearly proved fatal.

SHOT! Akashdeep Singh takes aim at the goal from the right side of the circle. The reverse stick slap is saved.

India enters the circle and Mandeep plays a ball in front of goal to Karthi and Sukhjeet. The Korea custodian gets in the way and denies a clear shot. India appeals for a penalty corner but to no avail.

Korea misses another chance! It is a penalty corner which Jang takes. An Indian stick deflects it off target.

Earlier in the quarter, Harmanpreet Singh conceded a sloppy corner as he failed to trap a pass from his teammate. The strike from Jonghyun Jang missed the target to save the Indian captain the blushes.

Mandeep Singh scores! He gets a pass into the circle from the right wing. Although, his tomahawk is mistimed, it beats the keeper.

India ends the second period with an advantage. Harmanpreet and Nilakanta scored the two goals. Korea has put up a fight though. It is making it difficult for India to get space in the final third. At 2-1, the Koreans are pretty much in the game.

A green card for Amit Rohidas for a stick check.

India has another penalty corner after Mandeep is not given five yards of space to collect an aerial.

But Harmanpreet’s drag runs wide of the left post.

Harmanpreet Singh puts India on top again! India won a penalty corner and the captain nails it to the right side of Jaehyeon Kim.

India dominating. First, Varun Kumar’s slap into the circle hits off the post. Hardik then tries to play an aerial to Akashdeep which misses the latter by a whisker.

CHANCE! Mandeep misses! Sukhjeet gets low and slashes a ball into the circle from the left flank. Mandeep is stationed just perfectly to get a deflection but he sends it wide.

Gurjant found space to move into the circlee, but the forward gets ahead of the ball and losses it to a Korean player.

Korea equalises in the 12th minute. Manjae Jung feeds Sunghyun Kim at the top of the circle, who turns and fires a shot past Pathak.

CHANCE! Sukhjeet and Akashdeep both try to get a shot at a loose ball but cannot.

India gets the lead. Sukhjeet with mind blowing stick work in the circle. He cuts it back and Nilakanta makes no mistake in scooping it into the net.

Hardik Singh with the first foray into the Korea circle but the ball is snapped off him.

India with possession to start the first quarter.

Anthems done, it is time for hockey!

If India gets the win tonight against Korea, it will advance to the semifinals of the Asian Champions Trophy. Only Malaysia has sealed a place so far.

IND: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Varun Kumar, Jarmanpreet Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Shamsher Singh, Akashdeep Singh

KOR: Jaehyeon Kim, Manjae Jung, Jungjun Lee, Woo Cheon Ji, Cheoloean Park, Hyeseung Lee, Sunghyun Kim, Seunghoon Lee, Hyeongjin Kim, Jonghyun Jang, Juyoung Lee.

Pakistan gets a first win of the tournament and moves 4th. China is out of semifinal contention.

Pakistan living dangerously. E Wenshui finds Guo unmarked inside the circle but he takes too much time on the ball and fails to get a shot on goal.

Jiesheng with a slap shot from the right and the ball fizzes past everyone at the far post area.

It’s the 52nd minute of the match and the Pakistani players are hunting the Chinese players on the ball all over the pitch.

They probably got a rollicking from the coach after how they started the third quarter.

GOAAAL! And just like that, Pakistan is ahead again! They are back to its full compliment of players and they move the ball around slowly before finding Bhutta in the circle, who flicks it onto Rana, who squares it for Afraz to redirect it into goal.

Abdul Shahid offers a rare spark for Pakistan in this quarter. He once again makes room inside the circle and fires a shot at goal which is saved. The rebound falls to him and he flashes it wide.

Rehman is back after his 2 minute suspension.

What is Pakistan doing? Abdul Rehman now gets a green card and Pakistan is down to 8 outfielders!

GOAAAL! China equalises from the penalty corner! Jiesheng Gao arrows in his dragflick past the defenders and the keeper!

Ahtisham Aslam receives a yellow card and Pakistan is down to 9 outfielders.

Abdul Shahid with another dribble from the right and his snapshot goes wide.

Pakistan goes into the half-time with a 1-0 lead. At the risk of repeating myself, Pakistaj needs to have a better second half after two successive poor second periods which cost it 4 points.

Muhammad Khan (15) with a dragflick again but this time Caiyu makes the save.

Zikriya Hayat intercepts the ball near the center line and explodes through the Chinese midfield and defence to play in Abdul Rehman, who takes a little too long to take his shot allowing Caiyu to close down the angle.

GOAL! PAKISTAN TAKES THE LEAD! Muhammad Khan (15) rifles his dragflick into the roof of the net and he breaks into his ‘Afridi’ celebration. China calls for a referral for dangerous height but the TV umpire says it isn’t so. China loses referral.

Penalty corner for Pakistan after the ball is pushed behind baseline by a Chinese defender.

Abdul Hannan Shahid is probably the most spellbinding players to watch on the ball this tournament. He dribbles his way into the circle past two players and finds Ammad in space but his shot is saved by the keeper Caiyu.

Our reporter Abhishek Saini caught up with Hannan Shahid to find out his story.

Hannan was born to hockey, coming from multiple generations of hockey players. Here’s his story. - Nature and nurture contrived for Pakistan’s Abdul Hannan Shahid to become the star he is today

An end-to-end first quarter sees both teams goalless.

Superb dribbling run from the left by Muhammad Ammad but his pass doesn’t find the intended target and is intercepted.

China work the ball from right to left and into an attacker, Benhai Chen, in space but before he could get his tomahawk effort at goal, Muhammad Khan (19) closes him down.

Another PC for Pakistan. Muhammad Khan’s dragflick is deflected wide by the first rusher.

Pakistan wins a penalty corner after Abdul Rehman brings down a high ball onto the foot of a Chinese defender.

Rehman dragflicks the ball straight at the keeper who kicks it out.

The match is underway and Pakistan gets an opening the first few seconds through Abdul Rana, who snatches his shot and the ball goes wide.

Pakistan: Akmal Hussain, Ahtisham Aslam, Aqeel Ahmad, Arshad Liaqat, Abdul Rana, Abdul Shahid, Bashir Usama, Abdul Rehman, Zikirya Hayat, Umar Bhutta (C), Muhammad Khan

China: Caiyu Wang, Qijun Chen, Chengfu Chen, Jiesheng Gao, Wenhui E, Chongcong Chen, Zixiang Guo, Shihao Du, Changliang Lin (C), Lei Meng, Ao Weibao

Malaysia is through to the semifinals after a 3-1 win here over Japan. They have bounced back after the 0-5 thrashing last night against India in a commendable fashion.

GOAL! Japan pulls one back, finally! A long ball is played to the far post, where Takuma brings it down before finishing it into the net with a tomahawk.

GOAAAL! Shello Silverius gets on the scoresheet. Ashran Hamsani runs into the circle and plays in Silverius at the far post, who takes a couple of touches to round the keeper and place it into the net.

How has Japan not scored there?! Taiki Takade with a superb pickout at the far post for Kawabe, but he fails to hit the target from close range. Just not their day.

Malaysia is 15 minutes away from sealing a place in the semifinals.

Seren Tanaka snatches a shot at goal from the edge of the circle and he sounds the board. He raises his hand in celebration but the referee says the shot came from just outside the circle.

Yamada with a penalty corner for Japan from which Takuma fails to redirect the ball towards goal.

GOAL FOR MALAYSIA! Against the run of play, Malaysia doubles the lead. Fitri Saari pulls his two defenders with him before slipping the ball through Kawahara’s legs to find Hasan in acres of space. Hasan runs in and sweeps home the ball into the net.

Penalty corner for Japan after the ball hits the foot of Marhan Jalil. Azahar does well to come out rushing to block the dragflick with his stick.

Jalil’s blushes are spared. He spills the ball outside his own circle and Mitani’s shot is saved by the keeper Zaimi.

Azuan Hazan gets a yellow card for his follow through challenge on a Japanese player.

Japan finishes the half strongly by coming close to equalising on at least a couple of occasions. In the late minute, Kato cut in inside the circle but his tomahawk was blocked. In the final few seconds, Mitani made a superb run into the circle but lost momentum towards the end when he needed to apply the finish. Malaysia will be wary of taking this tie easy.

This time Japan gets a PC after Aminudin obstructs Kawabe’s run inside the circle. Ohashi’s dragflick goes wide of the goal.

Calls for a penalty corner from Japan after what seemed like a foot obstruction of Razie inside the circle. Referee says no and Japan calls for a referral. The TV referee says no PC and Japan loses its review.

Kaito Tanka is allowed to run into the circle and with no one closing him down he takes a shot himself, which is kicked away by Zaimi in goal.

Poor from Japan. A pass from the back is cut out in its own half, opening up space for Ashari up top. The Malaysian attacker is impeded in the circle by Ohashi and the referee calls for a PC.

The ensuing PC from Faizal Saari is blocked by the first rusher.

Amirul Azahar runs from the right channel into the circle by the baseline but has his pass cut off crucially by a Japanese defender.

Malaysia goes into the two-minute interval being a goal in front thanks to Najmi’s penalty corner.

From the second battery, Najmi Jazlan’s dragflick hits the shin of the first rusher before dribling into the net. The referee claims it’s above the knee, Malaysia calls for a referral. The TV umpire says it was below the knee and asks him to overturn the decision! GOAL for Malaysia!

Faiz Jali spots Azrai in the circle on the break. Azrai takes his time and unleashes a drive which is palmed away by the keeper. Jali manages to win a PC from the rebound.

Razie Rahim’s dragflick is goal bound but Kaito Tanaka, on the post, gets his stick to deflect it over the goal.

Malaysia has seen more of the ball in the early exchanges. Malaysia earns a penalty corner early on after the ball strikes the foot of Yamada.

Japan in all black and Malaysia in all white. Malaysia gets things underway.

August in Chennai has been hotter than the norm with the conditions here punishing for the athletes. Malaysia will not be happy to go play late last night and start in the early tip off the next day.

It’s another crucial game for both teams. Malaysia is coming off a big 5-0 beating at the hands of India, while Japan played out a thrilling 3-3 draw against Pakistan on Sunday,. Malaysia is placed second on the table while Japan is 4th.

Japan: Takashi Yoshikawa, Kosei Kawabe, Shota Yamada, Seren Tanaka, Kentaro Fukuda, Taiki Takade, Takuma Niwa, Manabu Yamashita, Ken Nagayoshi, Ryoma Ooka, Masaki Ohashi (C)

Malaysia: Marhan Jalil, Faizal Saari, Firhan Ashari, Razie Rahim, Faiz Jali, Azuan Hasan, Mats Deris Zaimi (GK), Abu Kamal Azrai, Muhamad Aminudin, Abdu Muhajir, Amirul Azahar

India has a superior record in its meetings with Korea with 35 wins.

India - 35 | Korea - 11 | Draw - 12

India will take on South Korea in the fourth-round match of the Asian Champions Trophy 2023 at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai on Monday.

India moved top of the table after its thumping 5-0 win over Malaysia and will look to consolidate its position with another win.

India is unbeaten in the tournament with two wins and a draw. Korea, too, is unbeaten with a win and two draws to be placed third in the table with five points.

During the 2022 Asia Cup in Jakarta, a fresh-faced Selvam Karthi scored on his senior debut against Pakistan. In the following match against Japan, Karthi was seen sporting a blue headband to go with his India blue kit and so did Birender Lakra. Lakra handed over his headband to Karthi and while Karthi didn’t score in that game, the forward has worn it ever since.

For Karthi, the headband holds ‘sentimental’ value, every time he steps onto the pitch. He wears the blue one for the home kit and a white one to go with the away kit. Karthi says it’s among the favourite part of his gear and will do everything possible to keep it safe.

AASHIN PRASAD