It wasn't just the weather that was contrasting on the opening two nights of the Asian Champions Trophy men's hockey tournament in Chennai. A hot and humid opening night saw India breeze past China 7-2 but a breezy, pleasant evening on Friday saw an intense Japanese side hold the hosts to a 1-1 draw.
With international hockey back in Chennai after 15 years, the excitement was palpable in the arena on both nights. The stadium wasn’t full, but the atmosphere was electric as school students and hockey fans made their presence felt. Taking on the lowest-ranked team in the competition, a strong Indian side was too good for China on Thursday.
The first half was a goal-fest, as India led 6-2 at the breather. The second half was a matter of controlling the game, and while India scored a solitary goal, they should have added more to their tally.
One of the highlights of the match was India’s conversion of penalty corners. Captain Harmanpreet Singh was in the zone, scoring India’s first two goals from the first two opportunities that came up. Varun Kumar too scored twice from short corners to show India had been working on their back-up options for their main man.
But it was evident that the challenge was only going to get tougher from there on, with China’s PC defence not the strongest. On Friday, Japan showed from the word go that they would be tougher to break down. India’s conversion from PCs took a 180-degree turn as Japan’s rushing was exemplary.
It was pointed out by both Harmanpreet and coach Craig Fulton later on. India didn’t attempt variations and Japan stood firm. The profligacy came back to haunt them as Japan took the lead heading into halftime to quieten the crowd.
The hosts, however, regrouped at half-time and controlled large parts of the second half. The breakthrough eventually came from Harmanpreet, winning a PC with an aerial ball and converting it too. PR Sreejesh had to be alert to prevent Japan from scoring but India looked more likely to get the winner on the night, but were thwarted by the reigning Asian Games gold medallists. In the end, 1-1 was a fair reflection of proceedings on the night as Japan fought back from their opening game defeat against Korea.
“It’s every coach’s concern if you are not converting your chances, whether PCs or field goals," Fulton said at the post-match press conference on Friday. "You always try to work out reasons and try to find a solution for that, of combinations of players together. We are playing the way we want to play. We had two-three really good counters. We are one phase away from finishing the way we want to.”
While the PC conversion in the two matches were at the opposite ends of the spectrum, Fulton said it was up to the players in the moment to decide whether to take a shot on goal or try and win the PC.
The next two matches against Malaysia and Korea will be stern tests again for India, and the hosts will want to show that they are still the top team in Asia.