The Indian hockey team’s excellent performance continues in the Asian Games 2026. Team India has also defeated South Korea by a margin of 8-2. Even before this, the Indian team has been defeating all the teams by a huge margin. In the match against South Korea, forward Abhishek (14th and 38th minute), Dilpreet Singh (26th and 32nd) scored two goals for India. Shilanand Lakra (fourth), Sukhjit Singh (ninth), captain Harmanpreet Singh (11th) and Rajinder Singh (60th) scored one goal each.
Kim Jaeho (42nd) and Kim Youngbok (52nd) scored goals for Korea. India had earlier defeated Indonesia 13-1 and Sri Lanka 16-1. Now India will face Japan on 26 September. After this India has to play against Bangladesh. Japan is the same team which won the silver medal in the last Asian Games. This time Japan is also the host. In such a situation, Team India will have to be cautious.
Korea was considered a strong team
The kind of start India had in this tournament. After this it was being said that only the South Korean team can challenge India. However, nothing like this was seen during the match. India won in a one-sided fashion and now Team India is the strongest contender to win gold in hockey. The journey to the semi-finals will be easy for India, but Team India may get stuck in the knockout matches.
Competition between 12 teams in hockey
A total of 12 hockey teams are included in the Asian Games 2026. These are divided into 2 groups. The top 2 teams from both the groups will make it to the semi-finals. The winners of each medal will be decided by holding matches between these four teams. The gold medal is also important for India because if it wins the gold medal, India will qualify directly for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Now the big challenge for India will be the Japanese team.