Hulunbuir (China), A determined India claimed their fifth Asian Champions Trophy title with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over hosts China here on Tuesday, completing a display of absolute dominance in the tournament in which they won all their matches.
Defender Jugraj Singh scored a rare field goal as the defending champions went to great lengths to beat their opponents.
It was not easy for Harmanpreet Singh-led India as they failed to break the Chinese defense in the first three quarters.
Finally, Jugraj broke the deadlock in the 51st minute to give the Paris Olympic bronze medalists victory against a determined Chinese team, playing in only their second international tournament final.
Prior to this, China's only appearance in the final of an international tournament was at the 2006 Asian Games, where they finished in second place after losing 1-3 to Korea.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan defeated Korea 5-2 to claim third place in the six-team competition.
India began the contest as favourites, having defeated China 3-0 in their first league match, but the final proved to be a very close affair.
It was a very close battle between the two teams in the first two quarters, even though India had better scoring opportunities.
The Chinese defended deeply and bothered their rivals with energetic counterattacks.
Raj Kumar Pal had the first attempt on goal for India, but his shot was saved by Chinese goalkeeper Wang Weihao.
Raj Kumar recovered well enough and earned India's first penalty corner in the 10th minute with some brilliant stick work, resulting in another set-piece, but captain Harmanpreet missed in the second attempt.
Two minutes later, Nilakanta Sharma saw out a strong save from Wang and then the Chinese goalkeeper showed brilliant reflexes to deny Sukhjeet Singh after being fed by Jugraj.
Seconds before the end of the first quarter, India conceded a penalty corner but Krishan Bahadur Pathak was alert in front of the goal.
The script was the same in the second quarter: India enjoyed most of the possession and China relied on counter-attacks.
India pushed towards goal against a brilliant display of deep defense from China. The hosts did not panic and remained calm when the Indians put pressure on them.
In the 27th minute, Sukhjeet Singh secured a penalty corner, but Harmanpreet's attempt hit the post, as China did enough to keep India goalless at half-time.
The agile Chinese came out with renewed vigor after the change of sides and launched a series of attacks on the Indian citadel.
China secured their second penalty corner in the 38th minute, but the Indian defense was up to the task.
The Chinese continued their aggressive intent, winning consecutive penalty corners in the 40th minute, but Indian goalkeeper Pathak was alert under the crossbar.
The young Indian striker, who had an excellent performance in the tournament, also had chances and penetrated the Chinese defense on several occasions, but she failed to find the target.
It took a brilliant blast from Harmanpreet to finally break the deadlock.
The in-form Indian captain sneaked into the Chinese circle with some good stick work and neatly passed the ball to his fellow defender Jugraj, who pushed it past the opposition goalkeeper, as India heaved a sigh of relief. .
With the support of the home crowd, China withdrew their goalkeeper for an extra field player four minutes after the siren, but the Indians managed to keep the ball under control and defended in large numbers to emerge triumphant.
Defender Jugraj Singh scored a rare field goal as the defending champions went to great lengths to beat their opponents.
It was not easy for Harmanpreet Singh-led India as they failed to break the Chinese defense in the first three quarters.
Finally, Jugraj broke the deadlock in the 51st minute to give the Paris Olympic bronze medalists victory against a determined Chinese team, playing in only their second international tournament final.
Prior to this, China's only appearance in the final of an international tournament was at the 2006 Asian Games, where they finished in second place after losing 1-3 to Korea.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan defeated Korea 5-2 to claim third place in the six-team competition.
India began the contest as favourites, having defeated China 3-0 in their first league match, but the final proved to be a very close affair.
It was a very close battle between the two teams in the first two quarters, even though India had better scoring opportunities.
The Chinese defended deeply and bothered their rivals with energetic counterattacks.
Raj Kumar Pal had the first attempt on goal for India, but his shot was saved by Chinese goalkeeper Wang Weihao.
Raj Kumar recovered well enough and earned India's first penalty corner in the 10th minute with some brilliant stick work, resulting in another set-piece, but captain Harmanpreet missed in the second attempt.
Two minutes later, Nilakanta Sharma saw out a strong save from Wang and then the Chinese goalkeeper showed brilliant reflexes to deny Sukhjeet Singh after being fed by Jugraj.
Seconds before the end of the first quarter, India conceded a penalty corner but Krishan Bahadur Pathak was alert in front of the goal.
The script was the same in the second quarter: India enjoyed most of the possession and China relied on counter-attacks.
India pushed towards goal against a brilliant display of deep defense from China. The hosts did not panic and remained calm when the Indians put pressure on them.
In the 27th minute, Sukhjeet Singh secured a penalty corner, but Harmanpreet's attempt hit the post, as China did enough to keep India goalless at half-time.
The agile Chinese came out with renewed vigor after the change of sides and launched a series of attacks on the Indian citadel.
China secured their second penalty corner in the 38th minute, but the Indian defense was up to the task.
The Chinese continued their aggressive intent, winning consecutive penalty corners in the 40th minute, but Indian goalkeeper Pathak was alert under the crossbar.
The young Indian striker, who had an excellent performance in the tournament, also had chances and penetrated the Chinese defense on several occasions, but she failed to find the target.
It took a brilliant blast from Harmanpreet to finally break the deadlock.
The in-form Indian captain sneaked into the Chinese circle with some good stick work and neatly passed the ball to his fellow defender Jugraj, who pushed it past the opposition goalkeeper, as India heaved a sigh of relief. .
With the support of the home crowd, China withdrew their goalkeeper for an extra field player four minutes after the siren, but the Indians managed to keep the ball under control and defended in large numbers to emerge triumphant.
