Asia Cup Hockey 2022 is presently happening in Jakarta, Indonesia, from 23rd May to 1st June. The Indian Men’s Hockey team lost to Japan in their second match of the Hockey tournament on 24th May. India played against Pakistan on 23rd May and barely lost the game but managed to give it a tie. It was a difficult start for the team compared to previous games in earlier championships.
India suffered a loss due to the inexperienced players selected for the Cup. Most of the players were chosen from regional championships and only possess a few experienced players. Debuting in an International tournament against winning teams like Japan will likely end up in a horrible defeat. The men in blue gave their tough fight against Japan and did manage to score some goals. Yesterday’s loss may cost India’s dream of lifting the Cup very heavily.
Japanese players secured the first two goals, making it 0-2, and were defending till the match got over. Ken Nagayoshi and Kosei Kawabe were the first two scorers in the game. India made a comeback where Pawan Rajbhar scored one for blue, 1-2. Japan didn’t wait for our team to make it an equal, and Ryomi Ooka added one more point to their existing two. Now it was 1-3 and was going pretty tough back and forth between both teams. Uttam Singh finally included one score into India’s total. The opposite team was attacking, knowing their victory, and scored two more goals. India lost to Japan by 2-5.
India will soon play against Thailand and hope to win. They have an extremely slim chance of staying in the tournament even after winning against Thai players. Japan must defeat Pakistan too, with a significant margin to be in the second position.
Also Read: Asia Cup Hockey 2022: Opening India vs Pakistan Men’s Hockey Game Ends in a Draw
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