The Indian Hockey Team has sealed its spot in the World Cup, defeating Korea 

On this Sunday, 7th September, the Indian Men’s Hockey team, captained by Harmanpreet Singh, defeated South Korea in the finals of the Asia Cup 2025 by the score of 4-1 in Rajgir, Bihar. This win has not only made them claim the title of the Men’s Asia Cup 2025 but also qualified them for the World Cup to be held in Belgium and Netherlands next year.

This is India’s fourth win in the Asia Cup Final, following their victory in 2017 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It ended their 8-year wait to regain the title and qualify for the World Cup 2026. The Indian Hockey Team played clinical hockey throughout the tournament, hosted in their homeland. The win is indeed a team’s win, with each player's efforts and contributions, but Dilpreet Singh's brilliant brace and performance highlighted in the match the most, ensuring the host a spot in the 2026 FIH World Cup. As a reward for their outstanding performance, the Indian hockey announced 3lakh rupees each for players and 1.5 lakh rupees for support staff. 

Initially, India got off to a solid start in the game as Sukhjeet Singh, scored the very first goal, within just 30 seconds of the game, which was also assisted by the Indian Captain, Singh. The match was a thrilling one, played in four quarters. In each quarter, there was plenty of action from both sides, with India’s dominance. In the opening quarter, India was awarded with a penalty stroke, an opportunity created by Mandeep Singh when just six minutes were left for the first hooter. However, the opportunity could not be utilised. 

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In the second quarter, the game slowed down for South Korea, and India won their first penalty corner shot in the 19th minute of the quarter. It was followed by a short lull in the game when both teams couldn’t find substantive action, but Dilpreet Singh from the Indian side broke the gridlock with a strike in the 28th minute. With this, the Indian side had a 2-0 lead in the second half.

At the start of the last quarter, South Korea managed to convert a goal after a good variation in a penalty corner. However, his goal did little to change the score of the match, which was not enough to make Korea the winner, as India won the final comfortably to become four-time Asian Hockey champions. In the final quarter, Dilpreet remained the cynosure of India's attack as he created a penalty corner, which was converted by Amit Rohidas. 

The Indian Players scored the goals: Dilpreet Singh (28',45'), Sukhjeet Singh (1'), and Amit Rohidas (50'), while the only South Korean player who scored a goal was Son Dain (51’).

(Rh/MY/NS)

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