The Indian men’s hockey team emerged victorious in the final match against the host country China at the Moqi Hockey Training Base in Hulunbuir thus clinching the Asian Champions Trophy for the third time in a row.

The much awaited match was held on Tuesday, September 17, 2024 and India did not lose a single match in the tournament and further cemented their position as the leaders in Asian hockey.

With the leadership of their captain Harmanpreet Singh who had a great tournament, India demonstrated better strategy and rigour in implementation right from the beginning. The team was quite aggressive from the beginning and this was evident in the first quarter as forward Mandeep Singh opened the team’s account. China tried to stage a comeback and put pressure on the Indian team especially with the support of their home crowd but India’s defence especially the goalkeeper PR Sreejesh did not let them through.

Gradually in the course of the match, the Indian midfield dominated the game especially with the combination of young talent in the form of Vivek Sagar Prasad and the experienced Manpreet Singh. They passed the ball accurately and occupied good positions on the field to deny the Chinese team possession for most of the time and create many goal-scoring chances.

The second half was also not different as India increased their lead through a well worked penalty corner conversion. Harmanpreet Singh who had already crossed the 200 international goals mark in this tournament, increased his tally with another goal which was a powerful drag flick which the Chinese goalkeeper could not stop. This goal appeared to demoralize China and India took advantage of this change in tide.

India’s forward line of Akashdeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay and the young gun Abhishek kept on applying pressure on the Chinese defence. Their constant pressure led to Akashdeep Singh scoring a field goal and the player exhibited his unique 3D moves to get past two defenders before scoring.

China, however, did not lie down and conceded and got a goal back from a penalty corner in the last 15 minutes. But in the final few minutes of the match, India’s experience and match awareness was seen as they bossed the final moments and did not let China get back into the match.

The match ended with India winning the match 3-1 and the players and the coaching staff could not contain their joy. This victory not only gave India its third successive Asian Champions Trophy but also put up a show and a warning to its competitors for the Paris Olympic 2024.

Coach Graham Reid was quite content with the performance of his players and said that they managed to stay calm and focused to deliver the strategies that he had laid down for them. He specially commended the defensive formation stating that they played a very important role in helping to counter China’s counter attacks.

In the post-match interview, the captain Harmanpreet Singh dedicated the win to the support staff and the fans in India. He said that the team must be consistent and work harder as they have other goals to achieve including the Olympic games.

The tournament also saw some Indians being rewarded for their performance in the tournament. The star player of the tournament was Harmanpreet Singh who was named the Player of the Tournament for his excellent leadership and goal scoring ability while young and promising goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak was awarded the Best Goalkeeper for his splendid performance in the tournament.

This victory in the Asian Champions Trophy 2024 will go a long way in boosting India’s confidence and prepare them well for the future international tournaments. While the team and its fans are still revelling in the victory achieved in the recent past, the hockey family awaits the next test on the world stage.