Lagatar24 Desk
Dhaka, Dec 22: India defeated a spirited Pakistan team (4-3) in a seven-goal thriller on Wednesday to win the bronze medal in the Asian Champions Trophy 2021 third-place playoff in Dhaka. India’s goals came from Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Varun Kumar, and Akashdeep Singh, while Pakistan’s came from Arfraz, Abdul Rana, and Nadeem.
India got off to a flying start, earning four consecutive penalty corners within a minute of the game, and drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh converted on the final attempt to put the defending champions ahead in the first quarter.
But Pakistan responded quickly, with Arfraz capitalising on an India defensive lapse in the 11th minute to cancel out Harmanpreet’s eighth goal of the tournament. And in the third quarter, Abdul Rana converted a simple tap in to help his team jump ahead in the 33rd minute.
However, India equalized 12 minutes later through Sumit, who took advantage of the chaos in front of the Pakistan goal to tap the ball into the net. Varun Kumar then converted a penalty corner in the 53rd minute to restore India’s lead, which Akashdeep doubled in the 57th.
However, Pakistan responded immediately, with Nadeem scoring their third goal, but they ran out of time to add to their tally and suffered their second consecutive defeat against India. Despite failing to score for his team, India captain Manpreet Singh was named Player of the Match for his outstanding performance in the midfield.
Notably, this was India’s second meeting with Pakistan in this tournament edition, following the round-robin stage, which the defending champions won 3-1. India finished the group stage on top of the table, having won three of four matches.
However, they fell short against Japan in the semifinals, losing 3-5. Pakistan, who shared the 2018 World Cup title with India, were defeated 5-6 by South Korea in the semi-finals.
The Dhaka campaign has come as an eye-opening for India, who now have a better understanding of their bench strength. Graham Reid’s team will look to improve their weaknesses ahead of an important year in which they will compete for the Asian Games gold medal.
