Harmanpreet's Hat-Trick Secures Narrow 4-3 Victory for India Over China in Asia Cup Opener

The Indian men's hockey team were not at their best but managed to win their Asia Cup opener against China 4-3 in Rajgir, Bihar, on Friday.

All seven goals in the match came via penalty corners with India captain Harmanpreet Singh scoring a hat trick and Jugraj Singh adding his name to the goal tally.

India were expected to dominate the Chinese and hoped for a smooth victory but their opponents had other ideas. Despite the domination on the ball, it was China who took the lead from a penalty corner thanks to Du Shihao in the 12th minute.

In the next quarter, India's domination paid dividends as Jugraj Singh converted his chance with a powerful dragflick to make it 1-1 in the 18th minute. Two minutes later, Harmanpreet made it 2-1 to India and it was looking pretty good for the home team.

Right after the half-time break, the Indian captain was on the scoresheet again from a penalty corner to make it 3-1 in the 33rd minute. But then China started pushing India, playing their best hockey and extracting fouls from India's defence. In the 35th minute, Chen Benhai scored to reduce the deficit and six minutes later, Goa Jiesheng made it 3-3 from another penalty corner.

In the midst of all this, Mandeep Singh was fouled inside the D by the Chinese goalkeeper and Harmanpreet had a chance from a stroke when the score was 3-2 in India's favour.

The winning goal came in the 47th minute when Harmanpreet's rocket of a dragflick found the corner of the net. India lost Jarmanpreet Singh to a five-minute yellow card and were put under immense pressure from China in the final quarter. In the end, they managed to hold on to the lead for a narrow win.

India will be back in action on Saturday for their match against Japan, which will start at 3 PM IST.

You can follow the match on our live blog below: