The Indian Men’s Hockey team suffered a 2-5 defeat to Japan in their second encounter at the Hero Asia Cup at the GBK Sports Complex Hockey Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia on Tuesday. Kosei Kawabe (40′, 56′) struck a brace, while Ken Nagayoshi (24′), Ryoma Ooka (49′) and Koji Yamasaki (54′) were the other goal-scorers for Japan in the Pool A match. Pawan Rajbhar (45′) and Uttam Singh (50′), scored the two goals for India.
Japan started putting the pressure on the young Indian team from the starting whistle of the match. In the 5th minute, Karthi Selvam struck a reverse hit inside the Japan circle to create an early opportunity for his team. But SV Sunil could not make contact on the ball in front of the goal and the opportunity was missed. Japan received the first penalty corner in the 11th minute of the first quarter, but goalkeeper Suraj Karkera made an excellent save to deny the opposition.
Ken Nagayoshi scored the first goal for Japan from a dragflick in the 24th minute after India conceded back-to-back penalty corners. Trailing 0-1 at halftime, India started brightly in the third Quarter as Uttam Singh received a chance inside the circle to get his team level. But he was unable to trap the ball and the opportunity was missed.
Japan started counter-attacking straightaway as India started getting back into the game. Kosei Kawabe doubled his team’s lead in the 40th minute with a shot past the young Indian defence. In the final minute of the third quarter, Pawan Raj Bhar deflected the ball into the nets after receiving a pass from Birendra Lakra, as India reduced the deficit to 1-2.
Ryoma Ooka scored four minutes into the final quarter, but Uttam Singh managed to get one for India straightaway in the next minute to keep India in the hunt. Late goals from Koji Yamasaki and Kosei Kawabe sealed the deal for Japan as they won the match 5-2.
India will play their next game against Indonesia on Thursday.
