India face Pakistan in Asian Games 2026 hockey semi-final; Rajkumar Pal ruled out
India will meet Pakistan in the first semi-final of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 men's hockey tournament in Kakamigahara, Japan, on October 1, with a place in the gold-medal match at stake. India will be without midfielder Rajkumar Pal, who has been ruled out after sustaining a left thumb fracture; travelling reserve Nilakanta Sharma has been added to the squad.
The defending champions topped Pool A with five wins from five matches, finishing the group stage unbeaten. India opened with 13-1 over Indonesia and 16-1 against Sri Lanka, then recorded an 8-2 win over South Korea — their best result against South Korea in Asian Games history — beat hosts Japan 2-0 and closed the pool phase with a 10-0 victory over Bangladesh. Pakistan slipped to second in Pool B after a 4-5 loss to Malaysia but had earlier beaten Thailand (9-0), Uzbekistan (5-1), China (3-0) and Oman (7-2). The tournament's other semi-final pits Malaysia against South Korea.
India's forwards have supplied the bulk of their goals, with Dilpreet Singh on nine and listed joint second on the tournament scoring chart. Abhishek and captain Harmanpreet Singh have eight goals each. Harmanpreet’s drag-flicks have continued to be a force to reckon with on penalty corners.
Pakistan's penalty-corner threat is led by Sufiyan Khan, a drag-flick specialist who tops the tournament scoring charts with 11 goals. His form from set pieces and the potential contest between him and Harmanpreet Singh on penalty corners are highlighted as important elements of the match. Pakistan had been in position to win Pool B before the defeat to Malaysia forced the semi-final clash with India.
Rajkumar Pal was ruled out after sustaining a left thumb fracture in India's last pool match against Bangladesh and Nilakanta Sharma has been named as his replacement. “It’s just unfortunate for Raj. At the same time, we have great experience that’s coming in. Nilakanta has been at the Olympics and World Cup. So, it’s a nice addition in terms of an experienced player coming in at an important time,” said team chief coach Craig Fulton.
Fulton also outlined the team's immediate focus ahead of the semi-final: “In tournament hockey, all roads lead to this point. Semi-finals are games of consequence, so it’s exciting,” Fulton added. “We’ll fine-tune all that we have to for penalty-corner attack, penalty-corner defence and whatever else we are focusing on. But the main thing is it’s about us. It’s about putting our game plan in. We’ve had five good games and got good momentum going into this (semi-final).” The Thursday weather forecast for Kakamigahara is sunny, in contrast to the incessant rain earlier in the week.
The fixture arrives against the backdrop of a long rivalry: the sides have met 184 times, with Pakistan holding 82 wins to India's 70 and 32 draws. India have not lost to Pakistan since the 2016 South Asian Games final, with the most recent meeting ending 5-3 in India's favour at the Men’s Hockey World Cup. The winner of Thursday's semi-final will advance to the gold-medal match, and a victory for India would move them one step closer to their first successful defence of the Asian Games gold medal.