Asia Cup 2022: Manjeet Singh, Pawan Rajbhar help India beat Japan 2-1 in Super 4s match

After completing a historic feat thrashing Indonesia 16-0 and qualifying for the Super Four stage of Asia Cup 2022, the Indian Men's hockey team went on the beat reigning champions Japan 2-1. Manjeet Singh and Pawan Rajbhar both scored goals which helped India jump to the top of the Super 4s with three points.

The side, coached by former skipper Sardar Singh, had gone down against Japan 2-5 in the pool stage, which had left them on the verge of exiting the Asia Cup. However, the Indian men got their revenge as they defeated Japan 2-1 in the first match of the Super 4s in Jakarta.

India defeated Japan by one goal in today's Hero Asia Cup 2022, which was held in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Comment "Bharat Mata Ki Jai"

IND 2-1 JPN#IndiaKaGame #HockeyIndia #HeroAsiaCup #MatchDay #INDvsJPN @CMO_Odisha @sports_odisha @IndiaSports @Media_SA pic.twitter.com/87SMwAuzaH

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) May 28, 2022

Manjeet got the start for India with a brilliant solo goal in the 7th minute of the first quarter. However, Japan's Takuma Niwa equalised it in the second quarter getting the score to 1-1 at half-time. 

Japan went on to dominate across both quarters in terms of possession and had four penalty corners of which Niwa went on to convert one in the 18th minute. In the third quarter, India made a brilliant comeback as Pawan Rajbhar in the 35th minute scored India's winning goal.

India will next play Malaysia in their Super 4 stage match on Sunday. In the other match of the day, South Korea and Malaysia had played out a 2-2 draw.

India, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia will play each other once with the top two teams progressing to the final in the Asia Cup 2022.