Asian Champions Trophy Hockey: Jugraj's lone goal helps India beat China in final

India men's hockey team beat China 1-0 in the Asian Champions Trophy final on Tuesday (Sep 17) to win the tournament. India, the 2024 Paris Olympic bronze medalist, remained unbeaten throughout the tournament.

It was a hard-fought win for India, who managed only a single goal in the 51st minute, thanks to a brilliant pass by skipper Harmanpreet off which Jugraj Singh scored the goal.

India had many chances to take the lead, but the Chinese defence kept the opposition at bay for most of the time. India, nonetheless, emerged victorious in the end for their record-extending fifth Asian Champions Trophy title.

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It was difficult for the Paris Olympic bronze medallist and favourites to break the Chinese defence in the first three quarters.

Eventually, defender Jugraj Singh broke the deadlock as he scored a rare field goal in the 51st minute to hand his team the title.

"This back-to-back triumph echoes their golden run of 2016-2018, showcasing India's consistent dominance in Asian hockey," Hockey India said in a post on X.

Despite the win, China had more possession in the match at66 per cent while India just had control for only 34 per cent. China also had more penalty corners than India.

India had beaten South Korea 4-1 in the semifinal and had won against China in the round-robin group stage match as well.

Prior to the semifinalwin, India had beaten host China, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan and Korea as well. India won against China 3-0 in their first match before beating Japan 5-1. India then annihilated Malaysia 8-1 and won over Korea 3-1 before beating Pakistan 2-1 in their last league match.

For the third-place match, Pakistan made a superb comeback and beat South Korea 5-2 to win the match.