In the Asian Champions Trophy men’s hockey tournament, the Indian team on Friday beat their traditional rivals Pakistan 3-1 with the help of two goals from vice-captain Harmanpreet Singh to strengthen their claim to enter the semi-finals of the tournament. After a 2–2 draw in the first match against Korea, India defeated Bangladesh 9–0 in their second match.
In the match against Pakistan, Harmanpreet converted two penalty corners in the 8th and 53rd minutes. Akashdeep also scored a field goal in the 42nd minute, which was his second goal of the tournament. Junaid Manzoor scored the only goal for Pakistan in the 45th minute. With this, India has got another victory in the tournament. Pakistan’s team is yet to win a single match and their first match against Japan was a goalless draw.
The Indian team is at the top of the points table with 7 points from three matches and will take on Japan in a five-nation round-robin league-based tournament on Sunday. Pakistan have just one point in two matches. India and Pakistan, who could not play in the final of the previous Asian Champions Trophy in Muscat due to rain, were declared joint winners.