India 4-0 Pakistan, Harmanpreet, Jugraj, Akashdeep with the goals; Asian Champions Trophy highlights Score Day 5: South Korea, Japan through to semis

India finish top of the table with a thumping 4-0 win over archrival Pakistan. Pakistan fails to make the semis.

India still pushing forward to add more goals. And they get a 4th! Mandeep plays the ball into Akashdeep, who gets the slightest of touches to put off the onrushing keeper.

How did he miss that?? Karthi with a superb run into the circle down the left and cuts it back to the face of the goal, where Akashdeep somehow puts it wide from close range.

Harmanpreet shoots from inside the circle which deflects of a Pakistan defender and finds the back of the net. The umpire calls for a TV referral, who deems the ball to have hit too high and restarts play.

GOAAAL! Jugraj Singh gets in on the act! His dragflick is straight at the face of the Pakistan keeper Hussain, who can’t get his hand up in time to stop the ball from hitting the back of the net.

A fifth PC of the match for India.

Pakistan gets the second half underway.

If Pakistan loses 1-2 and their goal comes from a Penalty Corner, there will be a shootout between Pakistan and Japan to decide the 4th semifinalist, since the teams will be level on points, matches won, goal difference, goals scored, head to head record and field goals scored.

Pakistan needs a field goal desperately or a 2-2 draw.

India is deservedly 2-0 ahead in this tie. It looked like Pakistan had an early goal but a good referral from India helped overturn the goal. Pakistan needs to mount a comeback somehow if it is to make semis.

Another PC for India. Reawarded after the ball strikes the first rusher’s foot.

India asks for a reaward, referee says no. They go for a video referral. TV umpire says no foot, will be a long corner instead. India loses referral.

GOAAAL! It’s Harmanpreet Singh again! Hardik with the injection and Harmanpreet fires it low and through the keeper’s legs. As it stands, Pakistan is out of the semifinals.

Penalty corner for India.

Aqeel wins a high ball and starts charging into the Indian half, plays in Abdul Rehman, who plays a first-time pass into the path of Muhammad Khan, but Sreejesh rushes out to block the shot on the slide.

Karthi receives a green card.

Karthi wins back possession outside the Pakistan circle and quickly looks to find an unmarked Sukhjeet Singh but the ball is slightly away from him.

GOAAAAL! It’s that man again, Harmanpreet Singh! He roars and punches his air in delight! If there was a roof over the turf, it would have come off with the explosion of noise from the stands. Harmanpreet picks his corner and dragflicks it hard and low into the board.

Penalty corner to India.

Quick play from India with Nilkanta picking out Karthi inside the circle, who takes one touch and shoots on goal. Akmal Hussain remains firm to make the save.

Pakistan calls for a referral thinking the ball struck Manpreet Singh’s foot but the TV umpire says no. Pakistan loses referral.

A superb diagonal into the Pakistan circle to find Mandeep Singh but Sufiyan closes him down quickly before he could get his tomahawk away. Mandeep holds on to the ball before going for a shot but Sufiyan gets the clock this time. Jugraj gets a green card moments later.

Selvam Karthi receives the ball in the circle amid growing cheers but his shot is blocked by a defender.

Muhammad Sufiyan Khan’s piledriver of a dragflick is high and Pathak palms it over the goal!

The match is underway with India playing from left to right.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin greets local boy Selvam Karthi on the turf. Receives a loud cheer from the crowd.

India cricketer, Ravichandran Ashwin, is on the turf ahead of the big game. Ashwin is no stranger to India-Pakistan clashes with his latest coming in last year’s T20 World Cup where he scored the winning runs on the final ball.

The Green Shirts are currently third thanks to their goal difference. Even point gets it into the semifinals, that too in the third place. In case of a loss, it needs to ensure it goal difference does not get worse than -2 (Currently it is at -1).

India: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Varun Kumar, Jarmanpreet Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Mandeep Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Shamsher Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Sukhjeet Singh.

Pakistan: Akmal Hussain, Ahtisham Aslam, Aqeel Ahmad, Arshad Liaqat, Abdul Rana, Abdul Hannan, Zikriya Hayat, Usama Bashir, Umar Bhutta, Muhammad Sufyan Khan, Afraz.

The Indian side is the first to make an appearance. Loud cheers in the stands to greet the players.

Malaysia hangs on to the lead to get to 12 points from its five games. Korea slips to fourth in the table and just about manages to go through to the semifinals.

With 49 seconds left on the clock, Korea has asked for a referral appealing for a short corner.

To no avail as the TV umpire rejects the appeal.

Most of Korea’s forays forward coming from the left flank with Cheoleon Park looking to make way into the circle. Malaysia crowding him out and able to close out space.

Korea pushing Malaysia. More entries, more possession for the Koreans but they’re still not able to find the goal.

Korea with a positive start to the final quarter. It wins a penalty corner is the second minute of play. But Jonghyun Jang cannot find the back of the net.

The last play of the period is Seunghoon Lee snapping a shot into the circle with the hope of a stick connecting for a deflection. There is none and Korea remains a goal down.

Korea survives yet another penalty corner. The first rusher does the trick this time as the drag flick is deemed dangerous.

Fitri Saari with a neat dribble to find an entry into the Korea circle. He even gets a shot in but its from a tight angle and the ball hits the side net.

Malaysia starts the second half by winning a penalty corner. Jaehyeon Kim again stands firm to deny the second goal to the side, and keeps Kore in the hunt.

Malaysia holds on to the lead at the half-way mark. Korea certainly fared better after conceding the goal, but it needs a sustained effort to grab a point and book a place in the last four.

Jihun Yang takes the short corner at the first battery. His target is the top right corner but he sends it wide.

Korea replies right back. It has a penalty corner.

Malaysia is rewarded for its relentless attack. Abdu Muhajir plays a pass to Ashran Hamsami on the right baseline. Hamsami plays it in front of goal where an unmarked Abu Kamal Azrai sounds the board.

Malaysia with a packed midfield is blocking out the space and channels for Korea to work out attacks. Nearly the entire 2nd period so far has been played in the Korea half.

The end of the first period. No clear momentum swings so far. Just the one penalty corner for the Speedy Tigers which Kim saved without any trouble.

Malaysia enters the circle from the right. Korea manages to clear out the danger but Malaysia appeals for a penalty corner and refers the decision. A long check yields to nothing for the side and the Speedy Tigers lose their referral early into the contest.

Jihhun Yang plays a bullet pass into the circle from the right flank but there is no stick to deflect it into the goal.

Malaysia captain Marhan Jalil is out for two minutes with a green card.

Malaysia wins a penalty corner. Hyeseung Lee with a body check on a Malaysia forward.

SAVE! Razie Rahim’s drag is blocked by Jaehyeon Kim.

A pretty cagey start to the game. No team has taken clear initiative in the first four minutes.

Malaysia with the push back to get things rolling at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium.

Malaysia: Hafizuddin Othman, Mujahir Abdu, Marhan Jalil, Faizal Saari, Aminudin Muhamad, Firhan Ashari, Razie Rahim, Faiz Jali, Azuan Hasan, Abu Kamla Azrai, Amirul Azahar.

Korea: Jaehyeon Kim, Manjae Jung, Jungjun Lee, Woo Cheon Ji, Cheoleon Park, Hyeseung Lee, Sunghyun Kim, Seunghoon Lee, Hyeongjin Kim, Juyoung Lee, Jihun Yang

The teams are nearly done with their warm ups. The game starts in less than 10 minutes.

Korea begins this match at the third place in the points table. Even one point will be enough for the side to qualify for the last four. A loss, though, would leave its fate out of its hands, opening a number of permutations and combinations based on goal difference.

The Korean team is the first to take the field to begin the warm up drills.

Although Japan gets its first win, it is still not assured of a place in the semifinals.

Japan holds on in the final minutes to get three points.

China pulls one back! Suozhu Ao gets a reverse stick scoop over the Japan keeper.

02:20 to play in the game. Can China pull level?

Kentaro Fukuda scores the second for Japan. The Samurai Japan will breathe slightly eeasy now. It’s come from a penalty corner as Fukuda deftly guides the drag flick past the Chinese custodian.

Another chance gone! Weibao Ao is in space in the Japan circle and he has just one defender to beat. But quite cleverly, Takashi Yoshikawa comes out of the goal to close down the space and win a free hit for Japan.

China misses a penalty corner. Jieshieng Gao has been phenomenal from the drgag flick this tournament but he sends it wide this time.

China, attack wise, had the best chances in the third quarter. It grew into the game and would want to keep the momentum as the final period begins.

The best chance for China in the dying seconds of the third period. Weijiang Zhu is able to trap an aerial in the centre of the circle, move two paces forward and has a shot at goal. A vital tackle comes just in time to prevent him from shooting.

Chance for China! A circle penetration and the ball is with Zixiang Guo at the right baseline. He squares it and Qijun Chen is able to get a deflection. If only it had been on target.

Another chance for China. Ryoma Ooka gets space at the top of the circle and he launches a tomahawk. Ends up slicing it over the goal.

Japan again aggresses in the early minutes of the third quarter. Kentaro Fukuda takes a reverse-stick swipe at goal but cannot hit the target.

Japan should have had more than a goal to its credit. China would surely feel it has a chance to pull back into the contest.

Optimal use of the referral. The tackle was clean and the on-field decision is overturned.

A penalty stroke has been awarded to Japan. Kaito Tanaka was taking a shot at goal when Weibao Ao stick-checked.

China has asked for a referral.

A first shot for China. Well, half a shot, actually. The ball is put into the circle and Zixiang Guo gets his stick in the way. The ball takes the deflection and runs wide of the goal.

Another chance! Takuma Niwa enters the circle and plays it to Ryoma Ooka on the right baseline. Ooka misses the trap and China wins the ball.

Ken Nagayoshi misses the drag flick. Sends it to the right of the goal and China avoids falling two goals behind.

Another penalty corner for Japan. The ball strikes the off the foot of Chengfu Chen as Japan enters the circle from the left.

China trying to catch Japan on the counter but it has been clumsy in playing the final pass.

End of the first period.

Goal! Shota Yamada gets the goal from the short corner. The post man gets a stick to it but that is not enough to stop the ball.

The ball hits the foot of Jingcheng Huang and Japan has its first penalty corner.

Japan has made a couple of circle enteries but China is relying on last-ditch tackles to keep the team at bay.

Japan has taken over the possession from China and controlled the tempo in the first three minutes.

China with the pushback to start the first quarter.

The players are on the pitch. We are done with the anthems. Time for hockey now.

The famous hockey historian talks about the India vs Pakistan rivalry and the sport’s tryst with Chennai.

Japan: Takashi Yoshikawa, Shota Yamada, Seren Tanaka, Kentaro Fukuda, Taiki Takade, Yuma Nagai, Manabu Yamashita, Ken Nagayoshi, Ryosei Kato, Masaki Ohashi, Kaito Tanaka.

China: WEihao Wang, Qijun Chen, Chengfu Chen, Jiesheng Gao, Chongcong Chen, Zixiang Guo, Shihao, Benhai Chen, Changliang Lin, Lei MEng, Weibao Ao.

India and Malaysia have secured their passage to the semifinals, leaving two spots still up for grabs.

​

Japan vs China - 4:15PM

Malaysia vs Korea - 6:15 PM

India vs Pakistan - 8:30 PM