– by Pratyusha Mukherjee, Aichi-Nagoya, Japan
The Indian men’s hockey team continued its strong start to the Asian Games 2026 campaign on Thursday with their best ever result against South Korea in the history of the Asian Games – an emphatic 8-2 win. It was the third consecutive win in Pool A for the defending champions, who dictated proceedings for large stretches of the contest and moved closer to securing a place in the semi-finals.
Dilpreet Singh’s two goals in the contest brought his tournament tally to nine —currently the most in the list of goal-scorers in the men’s competition. Abhishek also scored a brace, while captain Harmanpreet Singh, Rajinder Singh, Sukhjeet Singh and Shilanand Lakra scored once each.
Both teams began with plenty of purpose, with instructions ringing out from the benches and players constantly communicating in the middle. The intent was clear — force the pace and catch the opposition off guard. The match began in hot conditions, though the weather eased as the second quarter progressed, bringing with it a welcome cool breeze.
India capitalized on their early pressure in the fourth minute when Lakra finished a well-worked move after an aerial into the Korean circle was neatly collected and set up for him. Korean goalkeeper Jaehan Kim was soon called into action, keeping out efforts in the eighth and ninth minutes.
India, however, continued to find openings. Sukhjeet Singh doubled the lead in the 10th minute with a sharp finish following another circle entry. A minute later, Harmanpreet Singh made it 3-0 from a penalty corner, sending a powerful flick past the goalkeeper.
Abhishek narrowly missed adding another soon after, but India did not have to wait long. In the 15th minute, Manpreet’s aerial found Lakra, who picked out Abhishek in front of goal. The forward made no mistake with a firm slap-push to send India into the first break 4-0 ahead.
India maintained the pressure in the second quarter, with Lakra again threatening after getting onto an aerial. The South Koreans managed to intercept another promising move involving Abhishek, but India eventually found their fifth in the 26th minute. Abhishek fed Mandeep inside the circle, and his reverse push was met by Dilpreet, who got the decisive touch to make it 5-0 at half-time.
India upped the intensity in the third quarter and added another goal as early as the 32nd minute. Hardik’s pass found Dilpreet, whose reverse-hit crashed into the backboard for his second goal of the match.
South Korea briefly came under more pressure as India earned a series of penalty corners. On the other end, Amit Rohidas also made an important defensive intervention to deny the opponents after South Korea’s first penalty corner of the match. India increased their lead to 7-0 in the 38th minute when Abhishek completed the move after Raj Kumar’s effort struck the crossbar.
Korea eventually found a way through in the 42nd minute, with JaeHo Kim pulling one back to make it 7-1 at the end of the third quarter.
The final quarter saw Korea create a few more opportunities, but India’s defence and goalkeeper Mohith kept them at bay. However, the four-time winners reduced the deficit to 7-2 in the 52nd minute when Yong Bok Kim capitalised on a loose defensive challenge from Jarmanpreet Singh to score a field goal.
India continued to push for more. After a string of penalty corners in the closing stages, they finally got their eighth with just 38 seconds remaining. Rajinder stepped up and unleashed a fierce flick that flew into the backboard to seal an 8-2 win.
The match was also a landmark occasion for India’s playmaker Vivek Sagar Prasad, who completed 200 senior international appearances for the country. He was felicitated ahead of the match in recognition of the milestone.
India will face hosts Japan today.
