The Indian women's hockey team notched up their fifth win on the trot on Friday, beating hosts Japan 4-2 in the semi-finals of the Asia Cup in Kakamigahara. Gurjit Kaur converted two penalty-corners, in the seventh and the ninth minute, respectively. Her goals came either side of a field goal by Navjot Kaur that had given India a 3-0 lead after the first quarter. Japan pulled goals back through Shiho Tsujii and Yui Ishibashi before half-time, but India found a fourth goal through Lalremsiami in the 38th minute.
This means India will contest the final of the quadrennial event for the first time since 2009. They will meet China, who edged out South Korea 3-2 in the other semi-final, on Sunday. India had beaten China 4-1 when the teams met in the group stages on October 30.
At 12, India were the lowest-ranked team among the four semi-finalists. That, as well as their newfound consistency under a new coach, make reaching the final a significant achievement.
Free-scoring team
India have scored 27 goals in five games at the Asia Cup and only conceded four. This is probably the biggest difference between the teams in recent years and this particular side, even if you consider that two of their big-scoring games were a 10-0 win over Singapore and 7-1 in the quarterfinals against Kazakhstan.
India have often suffered from an overreliance on Rani Rampal, not just for goals, but also for initiating attacking play. In Japan, she has just had three goals, with her last coming against China. This suggests other players have stepped up to the plate, and the numbers bear that out too, with nine separate scorers for India at this tournament.
Exceptional set-piece conversion
When facing higher-ranked opposition, India's problem would often be their inability to make the most of deadball situations like penalty corners and strokes. While Gurjit had come to the fore in recent months as a good contender for drag-flicks, the team management didn't always appear fully convinced of her ability to lead the charge off PCs.
Gurjit has been India's top-scorer this time, scoring at least one goal in each match on her way to eight goals, one of which was a penalty-stroke conversion to complete a hat-trick against Kazakhstan. India have scored from four other PCs, and Deep Grace Ekka and Neha Goyal have all given able support to Gurjit in adding variety to the team's battery.
High on self-belief
India raced away to a 3-0 lead against Japan on Friday and then showed maturity in handling a strong comeback from the hosts, who themselves are keen on building up momentum with good results ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. They had to come back after trailing inside two minutes against Kazakhstan, before scoring seven in reply.
Under coach Harendra Singh, India are playing attacking hockey, but you get the impression they could still go up a notch or two in intensity when needed. Senior players up front like Rani and Vandana Katariya have scored just four of the team's 27 goals and would be eager to leave the tournament with an impactful performance on Sunday.
On paper, India will begin the final with a ranking four places below China's eighth, but on form alone they must start as favourites to add a second Asia Cup crown to their solitary triumph in Delhi in 2004.