India vs China, Asian Champions Trophy Final Highlights: India have won the Asian Champions Trophy a record-extending fifth time but they were made to work for it by home favourites China. The Chinese were the rank underdogs and had lost 3-0 to them in their opening match of the tournament. However, they pushed India to the limit and it was only a solitary goal from Jugraj Singh in the fourth quarter that gave the defending champions the lead.
India reached the final after beating South Korea’s 4-1 in the semifinal on Monday, while China defeated Pakistan 2-0 via shoot-out in the tournament’s first semi-final after the two teams finished 1-1 at the end of regulation time.
India vs China, Asian Champions Trophy Final Live Hockey Score: That’s that for this year’s Asian Champions Trophy
India vs China, Asian Champions Trophy Final Live Hockey Score: India have been dominant but Craig Fulton might just be happier with this win than any of the others because it came on a not-so-great day in the office for his side. They were missing chances, there were misplaced passes, and Harmanpreet Singh’s drag flicks were going off-target.
And yet, they managed to get the W at the end of it all. Considering how they have played throughout this tournament, barring this final which was pretty much unlike any other match before this in so many ways, it is fair to say now that India are head and shoulders above all major Asian teams. The tricky part would now be to maintain this hegemony for years to come.
Commiserations to China but this is a country that is making all the right moves in this sport. They have made it to the final of the Asian Champions Trophy for the first time ever and this is after the women’s team won a historic silver at the Paris Olympics earlier this year. Fans of India vs Pakistan hockey matches that produced some of the greatest contests the sport has ever seen in decades past would be happy to know that Pakistan are back in the top three of this tournament for the first time since 2018 as well. That’s it from here, hope you all enjoyed this tournament as much as we enjoyed covering it. Ciao!