Kakamigahara (Japan), Oct 1 (IANS) India forward Mandeep Singh said the team’s belief in its structure helped it overcome Pakistan’s fightback and clinch a dramatic 4-3 win in the men’s hockey semifinal at the Asian Games in Kakamigahara on Thursday.

India appeared to be in complete control after taking a 3-0 lead, but Pakistan fought back to level the score at 3-3 in the final quarter. Abhishek then scored the decisive goal with around 40 seconds remaining to send India into the final.

Mandeep admitted that India’s structure slipped in the third and fourth quarters but said the team always believed it would find a way to win the contest.

“Looking at it, we played very good hockey in the first two quarters. In the third and fourth quarters, our structure was not that good. The goals came because of our mistakes. But still, the belief was there that we had to win this match, somehow, without taking it to a shootout. And that is what happened. We scored that goal in the last 40 seconds,” Mandeep told IANS after the match.

India had taken the lead through Harmanpreet Singh before the captain doubled the advantage from another penalty corner. Sukhjeet Singh then made it 3-0 before Pakistan began their comeback.

Mandeep said the tense semifinal provided an important lesson for the team ahead of the gold-medal clash.

“Hockey is such a game that even if you play a lower-ranked team, they can also perform well. Our main focus was that whatever happens, we have to believe in our structure. We played very good hockey in the first two quarters, and our structure was also good. I think the structure was not good in the third and fourth quarters, so our learning point is that whatever happens in the final, we have to execute our structure well across all four quarters,” he said.

Mandeep also underlined the confidence within the group as India look to defend their Asian Games title. “Our belief and trust in each other is very good. Everyone knows that playing a final is a different feeling. Everyone also knows that we won the last time, and winning back-to-back is a very big thing. There is a belief that we will complete that,” he said.

Sukhjeet Singh, who scored India’s third goal, also described the semifinal as a closely fought contest and praised the team’s effort in producing the late winner. “It was a very good match. It was a semifinal, and, as you know, it was against Pakistan. It was a very good, close match. After taking a 3-0 lead, the score became 3-3, and then we scored in the last 40 seconds. It was very good teamwork, especially the way we scored that goal in the final moments,” Sukhjeet said.

He said the team remained focused on its game plan despite the intensity surrounding an India-Pakistan clash. “We focus more on our structure during the game. An India-Pakistan match is a different kind of match, but we make sure we work on our basics and our structure. Whenever we get the ball inside the D, we try to create a penalty corner or convert it into a goal,” he said.

Sukhjeet acknowledged that such matches can involve distractions but said India did not allow them to affect its focus. “When India and Pakistan play, there is always a bit of a fight. But our focus as a team did not break. We performed well and won the match,” he said.

India will now face Malaysia in the gold medal match on Saturday.

--IANS

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