Defending champions India defeated Pakistan 4-3 in the 2021 men's Asian Champions Trophy hockey in Bangladesh to bag a bronze medal. It was India's second victory against Pakistan in as many matches in the tournament.
The match went down to the wire with both team going full throttle against each other in order to stamp their authority.
Harmanpreet Singh, Gursahibjit Singh, Varun Kumar and Akashdeep Singh emerged as the goal scorers for Indian Hockey Team.
India started on a bright note after Harmanpreet Singh scored from the penalty corner earlier which helped India take a 1-0 lead in the first quarter. However, Pakistan's Afraz equalised for his team soon and brought the game to equal terms.
Abdul Rana scored Pakistan's second goal as India went behind 2-1 in the third quarter of play. India however gathered momentum and took a crucial 3-2 lead in the final quarter through Varun Kumar on a penalty corner after Gursahibjit Singh brought India in the game as he scored the equaliser for India at the stroke of the fourth quarter with the score level at 2-2.
Eventually Akashdeep Singh scored India's final goal to put India ahead 4-2 and within touching distance of a medal. Pakistan third goal went in vain as India ended the tournament at the third place.
Earlier, India had crashed to a shocking 3-5 defeat against Japan in the semi-final, despite finishing the round-robin stage with a perfect record. Meanwhile, Pakistan had lost to South Korea in their semi-final match in a 5-6 thriller.
Notably, India and Pakistan were joint-winners of the previous edition of the men's Asian Champions Trophy which took place in 2018.
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