Captain Harmanpreet, coach Craig highlight India’s defence concerns despite win over Japan in Asia Cup

RAJGIR(Bihar) : Following their side’s win over Japan in the ongoing men’s Hockey Asia Cup in Rajgir, Indian skipper Harmanpreet Singh and coach Craig Fulton expressed happiness at their team’s performance, but highlighted the need to improve defence as they conceded a goal in the final minute.

Team India continued their winning form in the Hero Men’s Asia Cup Rajgir, Bihar 2025 with a 3-2 victory against Japan in their second Pool A fixture at the Rajgir Hockey Stadium, in Rajgir, Bihar, on Sunday. Captain Harmanpreet Singh (5′, 46′) and Mandeep Singh (4′) scored goals for India while Kosei Kawabe (38′,59′) scored a brace for Japan. With this win, India has secured a spot in the Super 4s stage as they progress ahead in the tournament. The match also marked an important milestone for Indian goalkeeper Krishan B Pathak as he celebrated his 150th international game.

Speaking about his fine performances, which include a hat-trick against China in the opener and two goals in this match, Harmanpreet said that all his goals are “team goals”.

“I think what we are achieving as a team is a good thing, that we are winning the match. But, it was a close match. But, I think we are happy that we have stepped up in this match from the previous match. So, I am very happy,” he added.

The captain emphasised the need to be “sharp on the ground” and to maintain a “strong defence”.

#WATCH | Rajgir, Nalanda | On India beats Japan qualifying for Super 4 Stage at the Hockey Asia Cup 2025, Captain of the Indian Hockey team, Harmanpreet Singh says, “This was a team goal… We are happy that we stepped up since the last performance… We will focus on the… pic.twitter.com/MpY1jLo5W5

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“Definitely, we could have stopped the last-minute goal as a team. We could have played good defence. But, it is a learning. So, I hope we improve in the next match. We will think about it later (having made it to the Super 4s). It is a back-to-back match (next being against Kazakhstan on September 1). Recovery time is very important. And, we have done good things today. So, we have to continue it. But, we have to focus on the learning side as well,” he added.

Head coach Craig hailed the team for producing “magic” in the first half while he said that the fourth quarter was not as good.

“We just did not reward ourselves with one or two more goals. And that would have been the icing on the cake. The last two minutes, it is still a goal. You know, it is still a goal. So, we do not like conceding goals. And, we are chasing to get that part right. And, hopefully, we can turn that around,” he added, speaking further about the team’s flaws.

Mandeep, who opened the account for the team with an outstanding field goal, said that whether it was done on the field or via a penalty, it is still a “team goal” and the team needs to work on making their chances count.

“Because Japan has saved a lot of short-run goals, but still, we should have scored more field goals,” he added.

Speaking on the presence of the home crowd, Mandeep clearly enjoyed the support, saying, “I would like to thank all the supporters who have come. It was a lot of fun to play.”

Goalkeeper Suraj was also happy at having secured the three points and vowed to improve in the next games.

On his team conceding a goal at the final minute, he said that hockey is a “dynamic sport”.

“There are a lot of ups and downs. It is not like the opponent team will not be able to score. We will analyse the situation and prepare accordingly. The crowd is great. We are getting a lot of support. They give us a lot of support every time we play,” he added.

India made a bright start to the first quarter, scoring two back-to-back goals in the first five minutes to assert their dominance. In the fourth minute, Sukhjeet Singh collected the ball on the baseline and played a perfect pass to Mandeep Singh (4′) as he beat his marker in front of the goal and finished it into the net to open the scoring, as per a Hockey India press release.

In the very next minute, India won their first Penalty Corner of the day, and after two retakes, Captain Harmanpreet Singh (5′) fired a powerful shot that struck the Japanese goalkeeper’s foot and went into the goal to increase the home side’s lead. Japan too won a Penalty Corner in the 13th minute; however, it did not amount to anything.

Japan improved upon their performance in the second quarter as we saw end-to-end action between the two sides, but India’s resilient defence ensured the lead remained intact. In the 19th minute, Japan came close to scoring as Ryosuke Shinohara dribbled down the middle and fired a backhand shot which went narrowly wide. Japan won their second penalty corner in the 24th minute, but Jarmanpreet saved it on the line and cleared it away for a retake, which was eventually stopped by India. India won their second penalty corner towards the end of the first half, but Amit Rohidas couldn’t find the target with his drag flick.

Japan found their first goal in the third quarter as Kosei Kawabe (38′) did well to collect a difficult pass inside the circle and followed it with an angular shot, finding the bottom right corner past the keeper. After scoring the goal, Japan had a spring in their step as they started attacking aggressively in search of an equaliser, but India ensured they controlled the possession and tempo of the game to prevent another goal.

With just seconds left in the quarter, India won a crucial Penalty Corner, which was converted beautifully by Captain Harmanpreet Singh (46′) through the goalkeeper’s legs to reclaim the two-goal cushion for India.

In the opening minutes of the final quarter, Japan won a Penalty Corner but were met with two incredible back-to-back saves by Indian goalkeeper Suraj Karkera. Moments later, Abhishek did well to find space inside the circle from the right as he struck a strong backhand shot towards goal, but it was saved well by the Japanese keeper. In the dying moments of the match, Japan’s Kosei Kawabe (59′) struck his second goal of the day as he won the ball on the rebound inside the circle and scored past the keeper to reduce the deficit. Captain Harmanpreet Singh was given a yellow card in the final minute as India were down to 10 men, but they slowed down the proceedings and held their ground to protect the slim lead and emerge victorious. (ANI)