Gifu, 25 September (H.S.): The Indian women’s hockey team secured its place in the semifinals of the 2026 Asian Games by defeating hosts Japan 3-1 in a crucial Pool B encounter on Friday. With the victory at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium, India registered its fourth consecutive win and also secured a place in the top two of the pool.

Lalremsiami, Ishika Chaudhary and Navneet Kaur scored for India, while Shiho Kobayakawa found the net for Japan.

India began the match in an aggressive manner.

In the opening quarter, Japan goalkeeper Yu Kudo denied Navneet Kaur’s effort, but Lalremsiami reacted quickly to the rebound and fired the ball into the net to give India the lead. Japan attempted to level the score, but Indian goalkeeper Savita Punia produced an excellent save to deny Mahi Ueno’s penalty-corner attempt.

India increased the pressure in the second quarter and doubled its advantage just before half-time. Japan’s defence blocked Navneet’s penalty-corner effort, but Ishika Chaudhary showed good awareness to finish the rebound and put India 2-0 ahead.

In the third quarter, Navneet Kaur produced a superb finish after beating the Japanese defence to extend India’s lead to 3-0.

Japan attempted to fight back in the final quarter, with Shiho Kobayakawa scoring with a powerful tomahawk to reduce the deficit to 3-1. However, India successfully absorbed the subsequent pressure from Japan and held on to secure the victory.

Following the win, India have 12 points from four matches and have secured a top-two finish in Pool B. Japan are second with nine points, while Thailand can also reach 12 points if they win their remaining match. However, Japan and Thailand are scheduled to face each other in their final pool encounter, meaning both teams cannot simultaneously finish with 12 points.

India will now face Singapore in their final Pool B match on Sunday.

India won the bronze medal at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar