Asian Champions Trophy: Harmanpreet Singh's Indian Hockey team face Masaki Ohashi-led Japan in the semifinal of the Asian Champions Trophy. The two teams have played contrasting campaigns in the tournament. While India have been won four games and secured one draw in their five league-stage matches, Japan have just one win and two stalemates to their name. For their dominant run, the Men in Blue finished the group stage on top, while Japan found a narrow opening with a fourth finish.
Now the tournament gets into knockouts and India would fancy their chances against Japan in the final four. But the Japanese side is the only team that India have not beaten as both played a 1-1 draw in the league stage. Even after that stalemate, India enjoy the upper hand over Japan.
India vs Japan head-to-head
India enjoy dominance over Japan in hockey. The two have faced each other 34 times and the Men in Blue have 27 wins to their name. On the other hand, Japan have just three wins and the two have also played four draws. Their first meeting came in the 1932 Olympics when India thrashed Japan by 11-1. The last meeting between them was held in Asian Champions Trophy 2023 which was a 1-1 draw.
India vs Japan in Asian Champions Trophy
In the Asian Champions Trophy, both these sides have played nine encounters. India have five wins, while Japan have two. There have been two draws in the tournament too. The first Champions Trophy meeting was in September 2011.
The Indian team has registered easy wins in the competition so far. India's first win was a 7-2 cakewalk over China. The second one was a 1-1 draw with Japan. The Men in Blue crushed Malaysia 5-0 before a 3-2 win over Korea. The last group stage win was over arch-rivals Pakistan, a 4-0 triumph. Meanwhile, Japan fought hard to make their way into the final four. They suffered a 1-2 defeat in the opener to Korea, before 1-1 and 3-3 draws vs India and Pakistan, respectively. They suffered a 1-3 loss to Malaysia and then registered a must-win 2-1 win over China.
