That’s all from us tonight! Do join us tomorrow when India take on Japan at 8.30 pm IST.
Manpreet Singh, Player of the Match: Could have been better because we missed some good chances. The team is still recovering from traveling from Spain. We have work to do. The other teams like Japan, Malaysia and Pakistan are better and we cannot concede easy chances like we did today.
FT, India 7-2 China: So India begin their Asian Champions Trophy with a massive 7-2 win over China. The hosts did not need to hit sixth gear with Harmanpreet Singh and Varun Kumar netting a brace each from penalty corners. Akashdeep Singh, Sukhjeet Singh and Mandeep Singh also got on the scoresheet. Superb start for Craig Fulton’s side.
Q4, 59’, India 7-2 China: Another PC for India. And China only have two defenders on goal. Harman goes for the right of the goal again but Weihao gets a big glove to save it. India win another PC. This time Weihao denies Harman a hat-trick with his boot. The Chinese keeper has come alive in the fourth quarter.
Q4, 57’, India 7-2 China: Did the ball cross the line? Mandeep and Akashdeep play a one-two before the latter flicks the ball at goal from an acute angle. Wang Weihao, on his backside, scampers behind to flick it away. Mandeep and Akashdeep want the goal but the umpire is unmoved. Hard to say if the ball crossed the line. Good work from Weihao to keep the ball out.
Q4, 55’, India 7-2 China: Just over five minutes left in the match now. The Chinese players are struggling in the heat but India are still putting them under pressure trying to get an eighth of the night.
Q4, 50’, India 7-2 China: Sukhjeet plays the ball behind the goal line and concedes a soft PC. The drag-flick has very little power allowing Jarmanpreet, to borrow a phrase from cricket, flicks it down the leg side.
Q4, 46’, India 7-2 China: Pathak comes in goal for the final quarter
End of Q3, India 7-2 China: India add just the one goal to their tally there. They have taken the foot off the gas in the second half.
Q3, 42’, India 7-2 China: China win their third PC of the match as Rohidas, while trying to tackle the Chinese player, puts the ball behind goal. Sreejesh reviews but the decision stays. A harsh call that. Gao Jiesheng steps up but his drag flick flies just past the post.
Q3, 40’, India 7-2 China: Mandeep Singh gets in on the act! Even though Harman is on a hat-trick, the injection goes to the second battery where Rohidas plays it to Mandeep Singh on the far post. With all the time in the world, Mandeep deflects the shot into the roof of the net.
Q3, 40’, India 6-2 China: Clever work from Sukhjeet to play a short aerial pass inside the circle to find an unmarked Gurjant who is closed down illegally. Another PC for India.
Q3, 37’, India 6-2 China: A very good aerial ball from Jugraj to find Jarmanpreet on the right in the circle. The Indian defender takes it down beautifully but messes up the execution. Shoots well wide of goal.
Q3, 33’, India 6-2 China: Wang Weihao does well to save Harmanpreet’s drag-flick. The rebound goes to Hardik who gets the ball under control and shoots across goal. Weihao puts out his boot and launches a Chinese counter. India do well to stop it.
Q3, 31’, India 6-2 China: Ah that is one beauty of a pass from Harmanpreet to find Akashdeep. The forward, however, scuffs his shot twice allowing Wang Weihao to close down on him. The ball gets stuck under the keeper and India win another PC. China review but the decision stays.
Q3, 31’, India 6-2 China: China get us started in the second half. India win possession straight away and put China under pressure.
HT’, India 6-2 China, Craig Fulton: Conceded two soft goals. Attacking-wise we have done well and need to press better.
29’, India 6-2 China: With 30 seconds on the clock in Q2, Gurjant wins a PC for India. With Harman off the pitch, Varun steps up and dispatches his flick, once again, in the gap between the keeper and the defender on the post.
25’, India 5-2 China: What a goal from China! They win back-to-back penalty corners. Gao Jiesheng, who takes an angled approach, demonstrates fabulous drag-flicking to fire in an unstoppable shot onto the roof of the net. Pathak got a glove on it but the shot had enough power to hit the roof.
21’, India 5-1 China: Jarmanpreet Singh with a bad foul and he’s shown a yellow card. India down to 10 for the next five minutes. No worries for India as Manpreet wins another PC. Harmanpreet goes for his hat-trick. His flick hits Chen Chongcong right on the hip and goes out.
21’, India 5-1 China: Varun makes it 5! The Indian defender makes up for his mistake by firing in India’s fifth PC beyond Wang Weihao.
19’, India 4-1 China: China pull one back! Varun messes up an easy aerial ball sending E Wenhui into the circle. Jugraj is on him but cannot risk conceding a PC. Wenhui cuts back and fires in the ball beneath Pathak to score.
16’, India 4-0 China: India start the quarter with another goal! Akashdeep makes his way into the circle and fires in a powerful shot beyond the keeper!
15’ India 3-0 China: Sukhjeet makes it 3-0! Karthi wins another PC. Varun Kumar takes it but his shot is blocked straight back to him. His reverse shot has no power but it goes to Sukhjeet who, with his back to goal, shoots from between his leg to find the bottom corner. Superb goal that. That is the last action of the quarter.
14’ India 2-0 China: Karthi tries to create something from the right but his cross hits teammate Vivek Sagar Prasad’s foot. Harmanpreet, meanwhile, is getting instructions from Fulton on the bench.
11’ India 2-0 China: PC number four for India. Superb work from Sukhjeet to trap the ball with his back to goal and play a no-look snap shot. It’s saved by the keeper but it loops up dangerously for a PC. Jugraj and Amit Rohidas are in the PC battery. The injection goes to the latter whose flick is saved.
10’ India 2-0 China: Another PC for India. Jugraj does really well on the goal-line and plays the ball onto the leg of the Chinese defender. Really good rushing from Chen Chengfu to deny Harman is hat-trick.
8’ India 2-0 China: Harmanpreet Singh scores again! Manpreet wins India’s second PC. It’s a copy of the first goal as Harmanpreet once again finds the gap between the keeper and the post defender. Harmanpreet, at his best, is a sight to behold.
5’ India 1-0 China: Harmanpreet Singh scores! Karthi wins the penalty corner and his idol, Harmanpreet Singh steps up and rifles his drag-flick in between the keeper and the defender on the post. Excellent start for the home side.
3’ India 0-0 China: China playing with a low block as India patiently try to create something. It’s Manpreet who fashions the first chance of the match. Plays a strong pass towards Akashdeep in the circle who flicks it goal wards. It’s saved by the keeper.
1’, India 0-0 China: And we have pushback in Chennai as a huge roar goes across the Mayor Radhakrishnan stadium!
India vs China: It’s not just hockey returning to Chennai, but also Tamil Nadu’s son who’s back where it all began. Karthi Selvam spent a couple of years in Chennai as a teenager and last year, became the first player from the state to play for India in more than a decade.
Read Vinayakk and my profile on the forward here.
India vs China, India coach Craig Fulton: Everyone is excited to be here. The first game of the tournament is always a cagey affair and we are just focused on ourselves.
Hello and welcome to Scroll’s live coverage of the Indian men’s hockey team’s Asian Champions Trophy match against China.
After 15 long years, international hockey is back in Chennai. The Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium has been refurbished in a matter of months and there is a sense of excitement in the city.
The Asian Champions Trophy serves as the last set of matches for India to prepare for the Asian Games, which will serve as a qualifying event for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Indian squad for the 2023 Asian Champions Trophy
Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak
Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Jugraj Singh, Harmanpreet Singh (C), Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas
Midfielders: Hardik Singh (VC), Vivek Sagar Prasad, Manpreet Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh
Forwards: Akashdeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, S Karthi
Screenshots in blog courtesy Fancode