India who is assured of a place in the semifinals, will clash with Japan in their final round-robin match of the Asian Champions Trophy men's hockey tournament on Sunday in Dhaka.
The three-time champions India are unbeaten in this tournament so far and are also on top of the points table with 7 points in their kitty from two wins and one draw.
With one thumping win against minnows Bangladesh and a draw in the opening match against South Korea, India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in their last match on Friday.
While their opponent, Japan are also unbeaten in the tournament with two draws and one win. In their opening two matches, Japan were held to draw by South Korea and Pakistan. And in their last match on Saturday, Japan triumphed over hosts Bangladesh by 5-0.
For ACT, India have rested a lot of experienced players from the squad that played in Tokyo Olympics like PR Sreejesh, Mandeep Singh, Surender Kumar, Simranjeet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Nilakanta Sharma, etc while some players from that squad have taken retirement from international hockey like Rupinder Pal Singh and Birendra Lakra.
All these rests and retirements have come as opportunities for these youngsters like Suraj Karkera, Krishan Pathak, Gurinder Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Dipsan Tirkey, and Mandeep Mor.
India's entry to the semi-final, which is a certainty now, and if they iron out their flaws against Japan then they have a strong chance to win the 2021 Asian Champions Trophy.
( With inputs from ANI )
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