• Source:JND
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Hockey Asia Cup 2025: The Bihar Sports University Hockey Stadium in Rajgir witnessed a dominant performance from the Indian team as Harmanpreet Singh-led side outplayed Korea in the final to lift the Hockey Asia Cup 2025 trophy.

Dilpreet Singh (28th and 45th minutes) struck a brace while Sukhjeet Singh (1st minute) and Amit Rohidas (50th) were the other goal scorers for India in the summit clash.

South Korea, who were defending the title they had won in 2022, scored their lone goal through Dain Son (51st minute). India ended the tournament with an unbeaten record -- five wins and one draw. 

Korea's only goal was scored by Dain Son in the 51st minute. India were on the ball from the start and were determined. The coordination between the defence, midfield and forward line was a treat to watch as they penetrated the rival circle often.

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The Koreans, on the other hand, preferred to defend, which was not the best of ideas against an attacking home side.

The Koreans hardly created any real scoring chances in the first two quarters as the Indian defence stood tall. India opened the scoring inside the first 30 seconds of the game through Sukhjeet.

It was captain Harmanpreet Singh's brilliant stick-work from the left flank that set it up for Sukhjeet, who found the top-left corner of the Korean goal with a knock hit. Dilpreet Singh came close to scoring in the eighth minute, but his deflection off Vivek Sagar Prasad's pass was held by Korean goalkeeper Jaehan Kim.

On the very next move, India acquired a penalty stroke, but Jugraj Singh's try was saved by Kim. The Indians were ruthless in their attacking incursions as they kept the Korean defence under immense pressure.

An inch-perfect aerial ball from Harmanpreet found Sanjay on the left corner, and he handed it to Dilpreet inside the circle, who did the job by placing the ball into the goal as India went into half-time leading 2-0.

Korea's first real chance came in the 40th minute in the form of back-to-back penalty corners but the Indian defence stood rock solid. India finally confirmed their first penalty corner in the 44th minute, but Harmanpreet's try was blocked by the first rusher.

But just at the stroke of the third quarter, India made the scoreline 3-0 through Dilpreet.

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It was Harmanpreet, whose free hit from 23 yards found Raj Kumar Pal, who guided the ball towards Dilpreet and the striker made no mistake in finding the net with a neat deflection.

Five minutes later, India confirmed their second penalty corner and Rohidas located the net with a powerful grounded shot to hand the hosts a relaxed 4-0 lead.

A minute later, Korea pulled a goal back through a penalty-corner transformation from Son. In the 56th minute, Korea got their fourth penalty corner but failed to breach the stubborn Indian defence.

(With PTI Inputs)