Asian Champions Trophy: India And Malaysia Secure Semi-Final Spots With Three Consecutive Wins

Jalandhar: The league stage of the Asian Champions Trophy, which is being organised for the first time on Punjab soil, has now reached the final round. So far, all six teams have played three matches each at the Olympian Surjeet Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar, while each team has two matches left. India and Malaysia have secured their place in the semi-finals by winning their first three matches. Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh remains the leading goalscorer of the tournament with five goals.

Which teams will compete on 1-2 November?

Saturday was a rest day for all the teams in the tournament. During this, the teams of South Korea and Bangladesh practiced. The remaining six matches of the league stage will be played on 1 and 2 November.

• On November 1, South Korea will compete with Bangladesh, China with Japan and India with Malaysia.
• Similarly, on November 2, the teams of China and Bangladesh, Malaysia and Japan and India and South Korea will face each other.
• These matches will be played at 2:30 pm, 4:45 pm and 7 pm respectively.

Which team is at which position in the points list?

With three wins each, India and Malaysia have secured their place in the next stage. On the basis of better goal difference, the Indian team is at the first position in the points list, while Malaysia is at the second position. Japan is at third position with two wins and South Korea is at fourth position with one win. China and Bangladesh are still waiting for their first win. The first four out of six teams will advance to the semi-finals, while the fifth and sixth-placed teams will compete for the fifth spot.

When will the knockout matches be held in Mohali?

After the conclusion of the league stage, all the matches of the knockout round will be played on November 4 and 5 at the Olympian Balbir Singh Senior Stadium in Mohali. During this, the final positions of the tournament will be decided through competitions for semi-finals and other places.

Which team had the best performance?

Nine matches have been played so far in the tournament and the result of none of the matches has been a draw. A total of 54 goals have been scored in these matches, resulting in an average of six goals per match. Of these, 28 goals have been scored through field play, 23 penalty corners and three penalty strokes.

Talking about the performance of the teams, India has scored a maximum of 22 goals and only three goals have been scored against them. Malaysia has scored 14 goals, while six goals have been scored against them. Japan scored five goals and conceded six. South Korea also has five goals to its name, while seven goals have been scored against it. China has scored seven goals and conceded 12 goals. Bangladesh team has so far been able to score only one goal, while 20 goals have been scored against them. India and Japan are the only teams who did not concede any goals in each match while playing against Bangladesh.

Why is Harmanpreet Singh leading in the list of goal scorers?

Talking about personal performance, Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh is at the forefront with five goals. He has scored all five of his goals through penalty corners. Malaysia's Abu Kamal Azrai is in second place with four goals. India's Mandeep Singh and Abhishek along with Malaysia's Akhimullah and Azimuddin have scored three goals each.

The only hat-trick of the tournament so far is in the name of India's Mandeep Singh. He achieved this feat by scoring three goals in the very first match against Bangladesh. Apart from India's Hardik Singh, Sukhjit Singh, Jugraj Singh and Dilpreet Singh, China's Chongkong Chen and Benhai Chen and Malaysia's Faizal Sari have scored two goals each. Till now, a total of 32 players have registered their names in the list of goal scorers.