Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], August 9 : After registering a rousing victory against arch-rivals Pakistan, India's seasoned midfielder Manpreet Singh hailed his team who gave their "100 per cent" in the match and said that Men in Blue are not under pressure for their upcoming semifinals clash in the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy.
The Indian hockey team will next play a semifinal match against Japan in the 2023 Asian Champions Trophy on Friday.
The Indian men's hockey team beat Pakistan 4-0 to finish on top of the table at the Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023 here on Wednesday. Performing in front of a roaring home audience at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium, the Indian Men’s Hockey Team put on a brilliant display, dominating their opponents from the get-go.
The Indian men’s hockey team’s victory was powered by a brace from Harmanpreet Singh (15’, 23’). While Jugraj Singh (36’) and Akashdeep Singh (55’) also scored crucial goals to put the seal on the win.
"I think our overall performance was very good. Unfortunately, we missed many chances. Overall the game was fantastic as everyone gave their 100 per cent because we knew this match was crucial for us to top the pool. We started our tournament with an easy win against China. Our coach believed that if our defence is good then we can score more goals. We worked really hard on our defence and comprehend how can we stop our opponent. We knew that Pakistan have many skilful players and used tactics to block them," Manpreet Singh told ANI.
While talking about their next semis clash against Japan, Manpreet, "We are not under pressure for semifinals. Crowd support is really fantastic here."
"We are preparing well for Asian Games as you can see. We will meet these teams in the Asian Games too," Manpreet said.
The victory cements India’s position on top of the table and ensures that they take on fourth-placed Japan in the semi-finals, while Korea will take on Malaysia in the first semifinal encounter, on Friday.
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