India beat Japan 4-1 in Asian Champions Trophy, Abhishek Nain scores twice

India continued their fine run in the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament, beating Japan 4-1 in their third match. The five-time winners completed a hat-trick of wins and strengthened their position on the points table.

Striker Abhishek Nain was the hero of the match. It was his 150th international appearance, and he made it memorable with two fine field goals, in the 11th and 51st minutes, breaching the Japan defence. Captain Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty corner in the 47th minute. Then, in the 56th minute, Vishnukant Singh scored India's fourth field goal, shutting every route back for Japan. Japan's only goal came from Shota Yamada, on a penalty stroke in the 15th minute.

Japan began aggressively and tried to put the Indian defenders under heavy pressure. In the first few minutes, India lacked coordination between the midfield and the forward line. With regular player Mandeep Singh absent, the Indian attack also looked a little weak early on. Vice-captain Hardik Singh worked hard on his own in the middle of the field. Finally, in the 11th minute, he combined with Sukhjeet and Abhishek to set up the team's first goal.

Japan put in everything to level the match. In the closing moments of the first quarter they won a succession of penalty corners. On one of these, the ball struck the body of Indian player Sanjay and Japan were awarded a penalty stroke. Shota Yamada converted it to make the score 1-1. After that, the Japanese defenders marked man-to-man superbly and did not let the Indian forwards play freely. The teams were level at 1-1 at half-time.

After the break, India changed their strategy and raised the pace of the game. With short passes and clever moves, the Indian players began to break through the Japanese defence. India scored three goals in a row in the last two quarters to put the match beyond Japan's reach.

Earlier, India had beaten Bangladesh 13-0 and China 5-2. The Indian team will next face Malaysia on Sunday.