Olympic bronze medallist India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan 4-3 in a pulsating third-fourth place play-off match to win the bronze medal at the Asian Champions Trophy men’s hockey tournament here on Wednesday. India, who were the defending champions along with Pakistan in the last edition of the tournament in Muscat, will return with a consolation prize after having lost to Japan 3-5 in the semifinals on Tuesday.
India took the lead in the very first minute through vice-captain Harmanpreet Singh before Sumit (45th), Varun Kumar (53rd) and Akashdeep Singh (57th) struck a goal each. Pakistan’s goals were scored by Afraz (10th), Abdul Rana (33rd) and Ahmed Nadeem (57th). It was India’s second win over Pakistan in the tournament after having beaten the same opponents 3-1 in the round-robin stages.
Coming into the tournament as hot favourites and having topped the round-robin stage with an unbeaten record, the Indians would be disappointed to return with a bronze. In the summit clash late on Wednesday, South Korea will play Japan.
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