Hockey: Indian men thrash Japan to enter finals of Junior Asia Cup

Indian men wallopped Japan 6-1 to enter the finals of the 8th Junior Men’s Asia Cup hockey tournament, here today. The semi-final victory was also India’s second in the tournament against Japan, having beaten them at the group league stage. [caption id=“attachment_2362800” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  India will meet the winner between Pakistan and South Korea, who are pitted against each other in the second semi-final. Reuters[/caption] For India Mandeep Singh, Manpreet Singh Jr, Vikramjit Singh and Varun Kumar scored one goal apiece while Harmanpreet Singh struck twice, whose individual goals tally in the tournament has gone upto 11. For Japan, Yamada Shota reduced the margin. India will meet the winner between Pakistan and South Korea, who are pitted against each other in the second semi-final scheduled to be played tomorrow. India started the first half with their usual flair and attacking display as Mandeep opened the account in the 12th minute. Manpreet Jr increased the tally within a minute to make it 2-0. India did not need to look back after this and continued with their goal fest as Harmanpreet scored his 10th goal of the tournament from a penalty corner giving India a comfortable 3-0 lead. Vikramjit’s field goal in the 27th minute consolidated India’s lead to 4-0 as the winners went into the break. Japan started the second half with an attacking intent and was rewarded with a penalty corner which was converted by Yamada Shota giving Japan a much needed breather. However India struck back fiercely in the 48th minute through a penalty corner conversion by Harmanpreet. The margin was increased when Varun converted a penalty corner to make it 6-1 to seal a place in the final. “The boys played really well making it a great day for us in the tournament. We are one step away from winning the tournament and it is the time when we all need to keep our calm. The team is well drilled and hungry for more. We will take the next match as any other normal game and focus on putting up a good tight show,” said coach Harendra Singh. PTI