Asian Games 2023: India pummel Japan for hockey gold

In front of a capacity crowd that for the first time included a sizeable Indian population Harmanpreet Singh amp Co confirmed their ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics with an emphatic 51 win over defending champions Japan at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Stadium here on FridayChants of ldquoJeetega bhai jeetega India jeetegardquo echoed for the first time in Chinese territory here as the skillful Indian hockey players scored at regular intervals across the hourlong encounterAlso ReadAsian Games 2023 India hit historic 100Veteran hockey goalkeeper PR Sreejesh takes a selfie as India players display their gold medals yesterday PicPTIHardworking midfielder Manpreet Singh who led India to a historic bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics opened the scoring for the Indians with a field goal in the 25th minute after a barren first quarter Skipper Harmanpreet 32nd minute then made it 20 off one of his dreaded penalty corner drag flicks Amit Rohidas netted Indiarsquos third four minutes later Striker Abhishek 48th then made it 40 before Japan pulled one back three minutes later through Seren Tanaka Harmanpreet however stamped his authority on the final with his second goal a minute from full time Then as soon as the final hooter sounded he flung his stick on the ground and knelt down to kiss the turf in celebrationDespite the wild celebrations that will follow however the fact of the matter is that World No 3 India were expected to win this gold medal rather easily considering the next best Asian team are Malaysia ranked a distant 10th Paris 2024 will be a totally different and much superior ball game and veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and coach Craig Fulton obviously realise this ldquoThe work for the Paris Olympics has already begun At the last Olympics we did a wonderful job Then recently we won the Asian Champions Trophy and now the Asian Games so we are consistent and on the right pathrdquo Sreejesh told midday moments after the victoryHockey India chief Dilip Tirkey is all smiles after Indiarsquos win yesterday PicAshwin FerroFulton added ldquoIt was no surprise that we wanted to qualify for Paris through this Asian Games so definitely we have started our Olympic preparations already But today in particular I really enjoyed the way we played against Japan We got our goals when we wanted and it was a good finalrdquo said Fulton Hockey India chief Dilip Tirkey meanwhile couldnrsquot stop smiling after the win here ldquoWe cannot discount Japan they were the defending champions but our boys have played brilliantly throughout this tournament to win it in dominant fashionrdquo he said before sounding a warning ldquoAt the Olympics we will have hockey powerhouses like Australia Belgium Germany and Holland and to beat them we have to raise the level of our game I feel we still need improvement in penalty corner conversions We have just one year left to prepare as we aim to better the colour of the Tokyo Olympics bronzerdquo