India edge Pakistan 4-3 in Asian Games hockey semi in Nagoya to reach final
India defeated Pakistan 4-3 in the men's hockey semifinal at the Asian Games in Nagoya on October 1, with Harmanpreet Singh (5', 13'), Sukhjeet Singh (23') and Abhishek (60') scoring for India and Abu Mahmood (30'), Hannan Shahid (45') and Waheed Rana (49') replying for Pakistan.
The match revived memories of the once-central India–Pakistan hockey rivalry and followed recent dominance by India: they had beaten Pakistan 18 times in their last 20 meetings, including a 10-2 win at the Hangzhou Asian Games, and the victory extended India’s unbeaten run against Pakistan to 21 matches. There was pre-match discussion about parallels with the World Cup meeting in Amstelveen last month, where India took a big lead before Pakistan forced a fightback.
India opened the semifinal on the front foot, pressing Pakistan deep and using long diagonals to stretch the defence, which yielded five early penalty corners. Harmanpreet, who had already scored 21 career goals against Pakistan before this fixture, converted from a penalty corner on his sixth attempt to break the deadlock and then added a second goal soon after to make it 2-0.
Sukhjeet Singh extended India’s advantage to 3-0 in the 23rd minute, but India’s intensity dropped and avoidable fouls led to penalty-corner opportunities for Pakistan. Abu Mahmood converted a penalty corner in the 30th minute to change the momentum and bring Pakistan back into the contest.
The third quarter was fragmented, yet Pakistan continued to press and reduced the deficit when Hannan Shahid finished after a poor clearance inside the Indian D to make it 3-2. Waheed Rana then levelled the game in the 49th minute, completing a rapid comeback that had seen Pakistan, at one point, temporarily reduced to 10 men after a yellow card; India were later shown a green card to Dilpreet Singh.
India regained urgency in the final stages as they pushed forward searching for a winner. Abhishek, who had earlier struck the post, drove into the D in the closing minutes and his shot took a deflection off a Pakistan stick and crossed the line in the 60th minute; India then held on despite Pakistan’s late pressure to secure the win.
India’s title defence remains alive and Harmanpreet Singh described the semifinal as a good lesson ahead of the final. India will face either Malaysia or Korea in the gold medal match on October 3.
