Mohali. The Indian men’s hockey team has made it to the final of the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Punjab 2026. On Wednesday, defending champion India defeated South Korea 8-1 in the semi-finals played at Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium in Mohali. Now he will face Japan in the title match on Thursday.
Shilanand Lakra and Dilpreet Singh scored two goals each in India’s victory. Captain Harmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Angad Bir Singh and Vivek Sagar Prasad scored one goal each. Han Sangjun scored the only goal for South Korea. This was India’s first international match in this stadium of Mohali. Indian players played aggressively from the very beginning in a stadium packed with home spectators. The five-time champion Indian team was undefeated in the league stage by winning all its five matches and continued its brilliant performance in the semi-finals as well.
India took the lead in the fourth minute with Shilanand’s goal. However, Han Sangjun equalized for Korea in the ninth minute. Soon after, captain Harmanpreet put India ahead again with a powerful drag flick at the penalty corner. In the 13th minute, Shilanand scored his second goal on the rebound received after the goalkeeper’s save. The Indian attack became more intense in the second quarter. Sukhjeet scored with a brilliant reverse flick in the 21st minute. In the same minute, Dilpreet showed excellent coordination with Angad and increased India’s lead to 5-1. In the 25th minute, Dilpreet scored his second goal by controlling Harmanpreet’s long aerial pass. India was leading 6-1 at half-time.
In the third quarter, the Korean team had to face a five-minute yellow card for fielding an extra player. Taking advantage of this, Angad scored the seventh goal for India in the 36th minute. In the last quarter, the Korean team failed to penetrate the Indian defense line. In the 54th minute, Vivek Sagar Prasad sealed the victory by scoring the eighth goal with a brilliant individual effort. Dilpreet Singh, who scored two goals, was chosen as the player of the match. Giving credit for the victory to the collective efforts of the entire team, he said that the priority of the team was to implement the decided strategy on the field. He described representing India in front of family and fans in Mohali as a special experience.
Earlier, Japan made it to the final by defeating Malaysia 5-3 in the penalty shootout after a goalless match for 60 minutes in the first semi-final. In the match for fifth-sixth place, China defeated Bangladesh 3-1. India will now take the field against Japan on November 5 at 7 pm. The defending champion team will be eyeing to further strengthen its dominance in the Asian Champions Trophy by winning the title for the sixth time.