Asian Champions Trophy, India vs Japan: Harmanpreet Singh and Co look to consolidate lead at top

Having beaten China 7-2 in their tournament opener, India would look to secure a second consecutive victory at the Asian Champions Trophy 2023 against Japan on Friday. India are currently on the top of the points with a comprehensive victory over China at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai. For India, captain Harmanpreet Singh and Varun Kumar scored two goals each, while Sukhjeet Singh, Akashdeep Singh and Mandeep Singh were the other scorers. World No 4 India would look to continue the good form and a victory over World No 19 Japan on Friday will help them inch closer to the semi-finals. The top four teams from the six-team group will reach the last four stage. Japan will come into the match on the back of a defeat to South Korea. Japan made a good start and took the lead with Ryoma Ooka scoring in the sixth minute of the match but South Korea found two late goals to secure a 2-1 win. And the Japanese should be expecting another tough match against India considering how the hosts played against China in the first game. Harmanpreet and Co converted five out of nine penalty corners and had a 58% possession in the game. They made 31 circle penetrations as compared to four for China and took 25 shots at the goal. Being the top-ranked side in the tournament, India were expected to put up a fine display but the way they lived up to the billing augurs well going into the Asian Games where the team will have an opportunity to book a direct spot for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Against Japan, coach Craig Fulton would want his Indian players to continue the good work and take their chances whenever they come. India vs Japan head-to-head In 92 matches so far, India have won 82 games with Japan winning just six. Four matches ended in a draw. But in 2021, Japan defeated India in the semi-finals of the men’s Asian Champions Trophy. India vs Japan match details and live streaming The match will be played on 4 August 2023 at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Chennai. It will start at 8.30 PM IST and will be telecasted on Star Sports Network. The live streaming will be available on FanCode. We at _Firstpost_ will also LIVE blog the match. India vs Japan Squads India: RP Sreejesh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Krishan Pathak, Harmanpreet Singh, Manpreet Singh, Jugraj Singh, Sumit, Varun Kumar, Sukhjeet Singh, Hardik Singh, Amit Rohidas, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Akashdeep Singh, Samsher Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Mandeep Singh, S Karthi, Gurjant Singh Japan: Ooka Ryoma, Takashi Yoshikawa, Shota Yamada, Manabu Yamashita, Fujishima, Masaki Ohashi, Kirishita, Yamato Kawahara, Kitagawa, Yuma Nagai, Kaito Tanaka, Seren Tanaka, Takuma Niwa, Ken Nagayoshi, Taiki Takade, Genki Mitani, Kentaro Fukunda, Ryosei Kato, Kosei Kawabe.