Asian Champions Trophy 2021: India lose to Japan in semis, will take on Pakistan for third place battle

Defending champion India were ousted by Japan with a 3-5 scoreline in the semifinals of the ongoing 2021 Men's Asian Champions Trophy in Dhaka on Tuesday (December 21).

Japan gained a penalty corner (PC) in the very first minute of the match. The opponents, with yet another good counter-attack, earned a second penalty corner against India but this time Shota Yamada struck for Japan to score the opening goal in the first quarter.

Team Japan kickstarted the semifinals match all guns blazing as Raiki Fujishama converted the second penalty corner to give his team a 2-0 edge against India. In the first few minutes of the match Japan looked unstoppable as they dominated the first quarter of the game with six PC's in the initial stages of the match.

The defending champions bounced back in the second quarter of the match as Dilpreet Singh struck up a fine goal in the 17' as India reduced the deficit to 1-2 against Japan.

India had more possession after scoring their first goal as they were certainly aiming for an equalizer with less than two minutes left in the second quarter but failed to do so.

Japan asked for a penalty stroke after Kenta Tanak brought down in the 29' in the third quarter. Japan utilized a penalty corner and struck to take a 3-1 lead after winning the referral.

Japan looked unstoppable throughout the match, post the third goal. Indian players tried making good moves inside the Japanese D but stuttered while executing the delivery.

Japan consolidated their lead to 4-1 against India in the 35', while a few minutes later in the 41', Tanaka helped Japan extend the scoreline to a comfortable 5-1 lead against the defending champions.

Kenta Tanaka was the star player of the match between the two teams as he managed to run through the entire field launching Japanese attacks with high precision.

With just 10 minutes left in the game, it seemed the defending champions were inching away from defending the trophy. Harmanpreet came up with a fine dragflick to make it 2-5 against Japan during the last few minutes of the match.

With less than five minutes left before the final whistle, Hardik scored for India to reduce the lead to 3-5 against Japan in the 60'. The Indian hockey team had bounced back with two quick goals but unfortunately, it was not enough to win the match.

Indian hockey team to fight for third place in 2021 Men's Asian Champions Trophy

After suffering defeat at the hands of Japan, India will be up against their arch rivals Pakistan to fight for the bronze medal. Earlier, the defending champions had outmatched Pakistan with a 3-1 scoreline on Friday (December 17) in the group stage match.

India vs Pakistan: December 22 (Wednesday)