Craig Fulton disappeared into the dressing room furiously wiping his ways board clean. Nothing, in any case, that unfolded within the first half made any sense.
India’s defenders have been pushing ahead, attempting, in useless, to attain. The forwards have been falling again, taking part in a component in conceding objectives quite than stopping. Because the attackers and again line failed miserably of their major duties, a midfielder, who not often options on the scoresheet, sprang out of nowhere to attain a surprise aim.
This could’t have been the India coach’s gameplan, certainly?
It was that sort of an evening of the Asia Cup, although. A downpour so heavy that the hockey discipline, usually designed to soak all of it, was waterlogged; and a recreation that’s not often stopped due to rain getting suspended; of a push-back delayed by 53 minutes and the hosts needing one other 45 minutes to point out up.
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Hardik Singh and his sensational run from the midfield to fit in India’s opener towards Korea on the Hero Asia Cup Rajgir, Bihar 2025 is what goals are product of.#HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #HumSeHaiHockey #HeroAsiaCupRajgir pic.twitter.com/TDsbwRiPgB
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) September 3, 2025
It didn’t look like that at the beginning, when Sukhjeet Singh stole the ball from Seungwoo Lee close to the half line and handed it to Hardik Singh. What seemed like a easy cross changed into one thing spectacular. The centre-half, with sharp peripheral imaginative and prescient, revels in creating probabilities for the forwards and barely assaults the aim instantly. Earlier than Wednesday evening, he had scored simply 11 instances within the 160 matches he’s performed since 2018.
Few anticipated Hardik to go for the aim, together with the Koreans who have been cut up on whether or not to cease his run or shut his passing angles; the latter being his forte. The extra he continued his solo run, although, the extra Hardik grew in confidence. He by no means needed to take pleasure in an exaggerated dodge, simply a couple of times, he feigned a cross to throw off the defenders, who parted methods for him. When he entered the D, Hardik didn’t use any pressure. He merely tapped the ball previous the goalkeeper. The uncomplicatedness of his run and shot was what made it particular.
A aim — a uncommon discipline aim for India, that too — within the eighth minute raised hopes that Hardik would lead a procession. However India would quickly revert to kind.
Reverting to kind
Earlier this 12 months, the staff’s European leg of the Professional League was marked by a spate of particular person errors that resulted within the staff shedding seven out of the eight matches. It was extra of the identical towards South Korea.
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Within the twelfth minute, Jugraj Singh was discovered responsible of deliberately pushing Seyong Oh in entrance of the Indian aim. The Koreans have been awarded a penalty stroke, which Jihun Yang transformed with out a lot fuss. At that second, South Korea have been a reworked staff. If, earlier than the beginning, the group needed to sit beneath a lightning evening sky of Rajgir, the gamers on the sphere have been now dealing with the lightning-fast Koreans.
The defending champions performed like one, and stunned India with the velocity on their counterattacks. Two minutes after equalising, India conceded a penalty nook after Mandeep Singh — who was monitoring again in an try to assist his defence — intentionally put the ball out of play. Amit Rohidas was uncharacteristically gradual to hurry in the direction of Sunghyun Baek and shut him down, and the drag-flicker pushed the ball between the Indian defender’s legs and beat goalkeeper Krishan Pathak’s outstretched left leg.
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India present warrior spirit to tug off a late draw towards Korea! Catch the complete highlights from the Hero Asia Cup Rajgir, Bihar 2025. 🏑#HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #HumSeHaiHockey #HeroAsiaCupRajgir pic.twitter.com/PcXpSDzty7
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) September 3, 2025
The stands, which have been dancing to a few of the well-known Bhojpuri numbers simply minutes in the past, have been hushed.
Captain Harmanpreet Singh later mentioned the staff wasn’t ‘shocked’ by the reversal however they have been pressured to do issues otherwise. It began with Harmanpreet himself, who started pushing increased up the sphere than he normally would — thus far up that he even tried to attain a discipline aim however he didn’t hit the ball cleanly and the goalkeeper made a simple save.
Even because the errors value India two objectives, the forwards did little to boost their impression. Fulton took coronary heart in the truth that the staff continued creating probabilities towards a aspect that had all males in their very own half. However there was rising frustration among the many gamers at their incapability to beat the goalkeeper.
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Manpreet Singh slapped the ball contained in the ‘D’ from the best flank. He discovered an unmarked Sukhjeet Singh close to the penalty spot. The ahead was one-on-one with the goalkeeper, who was off his line, however he lacked composure and his reverse hit missed the goal utterly. Sukhjeet fell on his knees in frustration.
Minutes later, Abhishek received a cross contained in the capturing circle. He appeared to have sufficient time and area to take a shot, however the ahead — one of many extra dependable goalscorers — didn’t join properly and the ball wobbled previous the best submit. Abhishek smashed his stick on the turf and winced.
Abhishek had one other probability within the closing quarter. However he tried to show a defender earlier than taking a shot, thus shedding valuable seconds and permitting a defender to shut him down. Raj Kumar Pal then performed a cross throughout the face of the aim, however there was no Indian there to complete.
Simply when it seemed like India wouldn’t discover the equaliser, Harmanpreet performed a diagonal cross contained in the D. It rolled previous a crowded circle in the direction of Mandeep on the far submit. The ahead managed the ball with the primary contact after which tapped it previous the goalkeeper to stage the scores. India pushed ahead of their hunt for the winner nevertheless it by no means got here. And similar to that, a event that many thought can be a foregone conclusion with India triumphing, was all of the sudden thrown open.