Mohali had waited a long time for a night like Wednesday. The Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium was hosting its first international match, and the crowd that turned up did not have to wait long to find its voice. Four minutes in, India were ahead. By half-time, South Korea were chasing shadows. By the end, the scoreboard read 8-1, and the India vs Japan hockey final was set for Thursday night.
It was the second time in a week India had put eight past the same opponents. South Korea had already lost 8-0 to India in the league stage, according to PTI. Add the two meetings together and the aggregate reads 16-1. That is not a rivalry right now. That is a gap, and it is widening in front of packed stands.
A semi-final that was over early
Shilanand Lakra opened the scoring in the fourth minute and added a second in the 13th, PTI reported. Captain Harmanpreet Singh struck in the ninth minute, and that goal carried a weight beyond the match. Hockey India confirmed it was his 250th goal for the senior national team, a milestone reached in the middle of a rout, celebrated almost as an afterthought because the goals kept coming.
Sukhjeet Singh and Dilpreet Singh scored in the 21st minute, Dilpreet added another in the 25th, and India went into half-time 6-1 up, the Indian Express reported. South Korea’s only reply came from Sangjun Han in the ninth minute, briefly making it 2-1, before India scored four more without answering. Angad Bir Singh made it seven in the 36th minute. Vivek Sagar Prasad finished the scoring in the 54th.
Dilpreet Singh, who scored twice, was named Player of the Match, IANS reported, and he put it down to teamwork rather than individual form. That sounds like the standard answer. On this evidence, it was also the honest one. Eight goals from six different scorers is not one hot stick. It is a system working, with penalty-corner threats, field goals and second-phase runners all arriving at once.
India had already finished the league stage unbeaten, with five wins from five matches, according to Khel Now. So Wednesday was not an upset or a hot streak. It was the form team doing exactly what the form team had been doing all tournament, only louder, in front of a home crowd that finally had a stadium of its own to fill.
It has been quite a week for Indian sport, and not just on a hockey turf. While Kohli’s 74 in Auckland gave the cricket team a 1-0 ODI lead in New Zealand, and the Asian Para Games heroes are being honoured in Delhi today, hockey has quietly produced the most one-sided scoreline of the lot. The crowds in Mohali are a reminder of something Indian hockey has known for years and keeps having to prove: give this sport a proper stage at home, and people will come.
What the India vs Japan hockey final will hinge on
Japan will not arrive in Mohali with the same scars as South Korea. They reached the final the hard way, beating Malaysia 5-3 in a penalty shootout after the first semi-final finished goalless after 60 minutes, the Indian Express reported. That tells you two things. Japan can defend for an hour under pressure. And they can hold their nerve when a shootout decides it.
That is precisely why Thursday is not a formality, whatever Wednesday’s scoreline suggests. Japan will try to slow this game down, clog the circle, and drag India into a low-scoring wrestle. If they succeed for two quarters, the noise in Mohali turns nervous, and a team that has been scoring for fun suddenly has to solve a locked door. India, for their part, have to resist the temptation to chase a ninth goal when the sixth would do. Finals are won by patience as often as by power, and Japan’s route here proves they have patience in abundance.
The other question is simpler. Can anyone stop Harmanpreet’s drag-flick when it matters? South Korea could not, and he now walks into a final on the back of a personal landmark, leading a side chasing a record-extending sixth Asian Champions Trophy title. Five-time champions India are playing their seventh final of this tournament, according to PTI. Japan know the scale of that record. They also know records do not score goals.
The final starts at 7 pm IST on Thursday in Mohali, with live coverage on the Star Sports Network and JioHotstar, according to the Indian Express. India have scored 16 goals against one opponent in this tournament and conceded one in return. Japan have already shown they can survive 60 goalless minutes and win a shootout. Something has to give. My guess: it gives early, India score first again, and then the real contest begins, whether Japan can stay calm enough to make the champions doubt themselves. If they cannot, Mohali will celebrate a sixth title before the final hooter has finished echoing.