INDIA IS ASIAN CHAMPION ONCE AGAIN

India beat China 1-0 in the final to win Asian Champions Trophy for the record 5th time

PTI, Hulunbuir (China): A det ermine d India claimed thei r fi fth Hero Asian Champions Trophy title with a fighting 1-0 victory over hosts China here on Tuesday, completing a display of absolute dominance in the tournament in which they won all their matches. Defender Jug raj Singh scored a rare field goal as the defending champions toiled hard before getting the better of their opponents. It was not easy for the Harmanpreet Singh-led India as they failed to break the Chinese defence in the first three quarters.

Eventually, Jugraj broke the deadlock in the 51st minute to hand the Paris Olympics bronze medallists the win against a resolute Chinese side, which was playing in only its second international tournament final. Before this, China's only appearance in the final of an international tournament was in 2006 Asian Games, where they finished secondbest after losing 1-3 to Korea. Earlier in the day, Pakistan defeated Korea 5-2 to bag the third spot in the six-team competition. India, thus, became the most successful team in the tournament's history with a record-extending five titles. The Indians had previously achieved back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2018. Rewarding the team's efforts, Hockey India on Tuesday announced a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh for each player and Rs 1.5 lakh for each support staff member.

India started the contest as favourites, having defeated China 3-0 in their opening league game, but the final turned out to be a very close affair. It was a keenly-contested battle between the two sides in the first two quarters, even though India had better scoring chances. The Chinese defended deep and troubled their rivals with brisk counter attacks. Raj Kumar Pal had the first shy at the goal for India but his effort was saved by Chinese goalkeeper Wang Weihao. Raj Kumar recovered well enough and earned India's first penalty corner in the 10th minute with some brilliant stick work, which resulted in another set piece but skipper Harmanpreet was off target with the second try. Seconds from the end of the first quarter, India conceded a penalty corner but Krishan Bahadur Pathak was alert in front of the goal. The script was the same in the second quarter with India enjoying most of the possession and China relying on counters.