WATCH: Indian hockey team outclass Japan to win gold medal in Asian Games 2023 final
India won the gold medal in the event for the first time since 2014.
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Oct 6, 2023 9:00 pm
India defeated Japan in the final of the Asian Games 2023 to clinch the gold medal in men’s Hockey. India won the gold medal after 9 years in the men’s team event in the Asian Games 2023. A collective team effort from the Indian team throughout the tournament meant that the Indian team ended up claiming the deserving gold medal. India was the team of the tournament without a doubt.
The coaching of Craig Fulton has helped the Indian team in recent years. The world number 3 side was the favourite to win the gold medal in the event by some margin. Anything less than that would have been considered an underperformance, as there are no genuine challengers for the Indian team in Asia. Eventually, India ended up winning the medal in a dominant run.
India hammered the teams like Singapore, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan in the group stage by big margins. In the semifinal, India faced the toughest challenge from South Korea. But the team was good enough to beat the Koreans 5-3 to confirm at least a silver medal from the event. But India was not settling for the silver. The aim was always to win the gold medal.
Hockey (Source: Twitter)
Harmanpreet Singh steps up in the big match
In the final, India faced the challenge of Japan. The former Asian Games gold medalists could not threaten India for the most part of the game. India dominated the game completely, as they did throughout the tournament. Manpreet Singh scored the first goal of the game in the 25th minute. Harmanpreet Singh scored the following goal in the 32nd minute of the game.
Amit Rohidas scored the goal in the 36th minute of the game. Abhishek made it 4-0 for India in the 48th minute of the game. Japanfinally scored a goal in the 54th minute of the match. Seren Tanaka scored a goal to reduce the gap to 4-1. But the Indian captain Harmanpreet scored a goal in the 59th minute, his second one in the match and confirmed the gold medal for the Indian team.
Watch the winning moment of India here –
What a remarkable victory by the Indian hockey team.
