India Beats Japan in Hockey; Belgium the next challenger

Hamilton, January 27: Indian men’s hockey team defeated Japan 4-2 to remain unbeaten in the second-leg of the Four-Nation Invitational Tournament today.

After stunning victories against New Zealand (3-2) and Belgium (5-4), India overcame Japanese challenge with late strikes from Mandeep Singh (58th minute) and Ramandeep Singh (58th).

With the win, India has finished the round-robin stage of the second leg at the top of the standings without a defeat.

"We would like to improve our ball possession and we can train on this aspect against Japan. Our 75-yard press needs to improve as well and that is also something we want to work on when we play against Japan," said Sjoerd Marijne.

 

In their emphatic victory against the World No 3 Belgium on Thursday, India led twice – 1-0, 4-3 – before Belgium fought back to surge ahead twice – 2-1, 3-2.

But the Indians pulled up their socks just at the right time to finish on a high. The result against Belgium is a complete reversal for a team that is used to concede last-minute goals.

"The game plan was the same against Belgium but this time we were more effective. We wanted to press hard.

We didn't allow too much space and we wanted to improve our scoring and finish well and we were successful," Marijne said.

It will meet Belgium in the summit clash tomorrow. India and Belgium had met in the Final of the first leg as well. Belgium had won that game, 2-1.