India outplayed Japan 10-2 in their first match of the Asian Champions Trophy tournament played in Malaysia just a few minutes. It was a dominating display by the Indian team who decimated Japan right from the start.
In the first half, India got the first goal as Ramandeep Singh scored a brilliant field goal to give India 1-0 lead. The Men in Blue looked in control and gained possession. In the 9th minute, India earned the first penalty corner of the match and Rupinder Pal Singh scores from penalty corner to give India 2-0 lead. In the 12th minute, India earned the 2nd penalty corner and Rupinder Pal Singh scored the goal to give India 3-0 lead. India continued to dominate the Japanese team. In the last minute of the first quarter, Ramandeep scored from reverse stick to give India 4-0 lead. The Indian team led 4-0.
In the 2nd quarter too India earned another penalty corner in the 2nd minute which was converted by Rupinder Pal Singh to give India 5-0 lead. In the 5th minute, Talwinder scores from reverse hit to give a 6-0 lead for India. In the 8th minute, India scored another goal by Rupinder Pal Singh to give India a 7-0 lead. In the next minute, Tanaka scored the first goal for India to reduce the gap to 1-7. At the end of second quarter, India led 7-1.
In the third quarter, Japan showed aggression and Ochai scored in the 8th minute to reduce the gap to 2-7. India played well but could not put pressure on the Japanese defence. The Japanese team looked sharp. At the end of 3rd quarter, India led 7-2.
In the fourth quarter, India dominated the proceedings. The Indian forward showed aggression. In the 1st minute, Rupinder scored two successive goals in first two minutes of the last quarter to give India a commanding 9-2 lead. In the 5th minute, Affan Yousuf scored to show their domination in the match. India won the match by 10-2 and started the tournament with a bang.
The Indian forwards looked in great shape and dominated Japan in all sections. They play their next match on 22nd October against South Korea