Captain Harmanpreet Singh's double strike leads India to 2-1 victory over Pakistan in Asian Champions Trophy

India secured a thrilling 2-1 victory over archrivals Pakistan in their final league match of the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament in Moqi, China, on Saturday, which keeps the defending champions unbeaten going into the semifinals of the six-team event.
India skipper Harmanpreet Singh led from the front, scoring both the goals for his team after Pakistan took the lead with an 8th-minute goal by Ahmad Nadeem. Harmanpreet score both his goals off drag-flicks on penalty corners
This was Pakistan's first loss in the tournament, who have also already secured a place in the semis.

The victory extends India's dominance over Pakistan since 2016. In their previous encounter at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, India defeated Pakistan 10-2. Before that, in the last edition of the ACT held in Chennai, India had won 4-0.
The match began with intense action from both sides. India started strong but Pakistan gained confidence and scored first. Hannan Shahid's skillful midfield play enabled Nadeem to direct the ball into the Indian goal.
India responded with patience and secured a penalty corner in the 13th minute, which Harmanpreet converted. He repeated this feat in the 19th minute, putting India ahead 2-1. While India maintained better possession in the second quarter, Pakistan also had several opportunities. Just before half-time, Pakistan missed a chance to equalize through a penalty corner.

In the second half, India secured another penalty corner in the 37th minute but were thwarted by the Pakistani defense. Pakistan then gained four quick penalty corners but could not break through India's defense as the third quarter remained goal-less.
The final quarter also didn't see any goal despite relentless attacks from both sides, with India earning three more penalty corners but failing to convert any.
The match saw a heated moment when Pakistan's Ashraf Waheed Rana shouldered India's Jugraj Singh, resulting in a yellow card and a 10-minute suspension for Rana.
India's Manpreet Singh too received a yellow card during the last five minutes of the match, but it didn't make a difference to the end result.