Asia Cup Hockey 2025: Harmanpreet Singh leads India to flying start with victory over China
India overturn deficit to beat China in Asia Cup opener
After all of the controversy in the lead-up to the competition, the Indian national team produced a stellar performance in their opening match of the Asia Cup Hockey 2025, coming from behind to beat China 4-3 on Friday afternoon. India are now among the favourites to win the competition according to the best Indian betting sites.
Team China took the lead in the 12th minute of the match through Shihao Du, but Jugraj Singh levelled proceedings just six minutes later before his captain, Harmanpreet Singh, played a starring role, scoring twice in the space of 13 minutes to give his side a two-goal cushion.
China fought back valiantly, though, with Benhai Chen and Jiesheng Gao wiping out India’s lead, but it was skipper Singh who had the final say, scoring what turned out to be the winner for his side in the 47th minute, while also completing his hat-trick.
With the lead intact, India, ranked 17th in the world coming into this tournament, managed to pen 20th-ranked China back in their own half over the closing stages of the match, and saw out the game to pick up three points before facing Japan tomorrow.
Craig Fulton praises his side after opening round victory
India’s head coach, former South African international Craig Fulton, was full of praise for his side following their gritty victory over China. Speaking to the media after their win, Fulton said:
"We played well enough to win the game, but we didn't play to our expectations. The first hurdle was a good hurdle. There was a lot of fight in our team, which was nice to see, but we missed a few chances and we conceded a few soft goals as well.”
India’s next task comes in the form of Japan, who are ranked 18th globally and recorded a resounding victory in their first match of the competition, smashing Kazakhstan 7-0, with Koji Yamasaki playing a starring role for the team.
The two group leaders will meet at the Rajgir Hockey Stadium in Bihar on Saturday before India round out their group-stage matches against Kazakhstan on Sunday afternoon. The top two teams from each group will progress to the Super 4s next week.
