India beat Japan 4–1 in Mohali for sixth Asian Champions Trophy, scoring three in the final quarter

Japan took an early lead and then defended in numbers, keeping India on edge until the end of the third quarter, when the home side finally drew level, according to the state broadcaster's match report. India scored three times in the final quarter to pull clear. Japan had already shown its defensive strength by keeping Malaysia scoreless for 60 minutes in the semi-final.

Goal scorers from the final were not available in the official match records at the time of writing, so they are not listed here. The shape of the game is on record, however, and it says a good deal. This Indian team had scored freely for a week. On the one night when the goals did not come early, it stayed patient and won the match by pressing through to the last quarter.

An unbeaten run

India's tournament was close to flawless. The team finished the league stage unbeaten with five wins from five matches, including an 8–0 win over South Korea and a 4–1 win over Japan in Jalandhar. In the semi-final in Mohali on 4 November, they met South Korea again and won 8–1.

That semi-final was the first international match India had played at the Mohali stadium. Shilanand Lakra and Dilpreet Singh scored twice each, and Harmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Angad Bir Singh and Vivek Sagar Prasad also scored. Dilpreet was named Player of the Match.

Japan's route was very different. They finished second in the league stage and needed a shootout to get past Malaysia in a semi-final that stayed goalless through 60 minutes, winning it 5–3.

Across six wins before the final, India scored freely against everyone except, for long periods, the team that knew them best. Japan had lost to the same score a few days earlier, and in the final they made the game far harder.

Why it matters

The win has weight beyond the trophy. Three straight titles confirm India as the leading team in Asia at a time when the continent's competition is getting stronger, with Malaysia beating South Korea for the bronze and Japan reaching a major final. For any side, a title won from behind, in front of a home crowd, is more useful than another one-sided win.

Punjab played its part. The tournament was staged in the state that has given Indian hockey so many of its players, with matches in Jalandhar and Mohali and packed stands for the knockout rounds. Dilpreet spoke after the semi-final of how special it was to play in Punjab with family in the stands. The state broadcaster described the crowd treating the win as a Diwali gift.

There was also a farewell. Midfielder Nilakanta Sharma played his last international match in the final, and India's title run gave him the finish a player would hope for. A member of the team's midfield in recent years, he leaves with a gold medal in his final game.

The numbers from the two sides' path to Mohali show the gap in attack. India scored 16 goals in their two matches against South Korea alone and conceded one. Japan, by contrast, needed a shootout to win a semi-final in which neither side scored in open play. That Japan could hold such a team level for most of a final is a credit to their defending, and a reminder that the distance between the top sides in Asia is narrower on a tight night than the league table suggested.

There are questions to carry forward, though. India took three quarters to break down a packed defence, and stronger European sides will punish a slow start harder than Japan did. Conceding first in a final is not a habit to keep, and the team will want to review how it opened the game.

Hockey India's schedule of the national team's next engagements will set the path from here. For now, the numbers speak clearly: six titles, three in a row, an unbeaten tournament and a final won in the fourth quarter. Mohali, which had never hosted the team in an international match before this week, saw the trophy stay at home.