The Indian U-18 Men’s Hockey team played well and beat Chinese Taipei 13-1 in their last Pool A match on Wednesday in Kakmighara, Japan.
This win means the Indian U-18 Men’s Hockey team will be in the Asia Cup 2026 semi-finals, and they ended the group stage on a very strong note.
The Indian U-18 Men’s Hockey team won against Kazakhstan, Korea and Chinese Taipei. They lost to Japan, the host team.
The Indian U-18 Men’s Hockey team got nine points from four matches. Now they have to wait to see who they will play in the semi-finals.
Ashish Tani Purti Leads Goal Fest With Hat-Trick
The Indian U-18 Men’s Hockey team kept attacking the time, and Ashish Tani Purti was the best player, scoring three goals in the 27th, 35th and 42nd minutes.
Some other players, on the Indian U-18 Men’s Hockey team, also did well, like Gazee Khan, who scored two goals in the 40th and 44th minutes. Siddharth Ben scored two goals too in the 52nd minute. Rahul Yadav also scored two goals in the 54th minute.
Karan Gautam scored one goal in the minute, Premchand Soy scored one goal in the 11th minute, Ketan Kushwaha scored one goal in the 13th minute, and Varinder Singh scored one goal in the 50th minute, so the Indian U-18 Men’s Hockey team was really strong the whole match.
India’s Race To Early Control
India started strongly with possession and many attempts to breach Taiwan’s defence. After three penalty shots, Karan Gautam got the first goal for India in the seventh minute, and four minutes later, Premchand Soy scored the second goal with a good shot on target, 2-0.
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Ketan Kushwaha scored the third goal in the first quarter, leaving India up 3-0. In the second quarter, India continued their offensive after Rahul Yadav scored the fourth goal of the match, followed by Ashish Tani Purti scoring five minutes later, allowing India to lead 5-0.
Just before halftime, Siddharth Ben scored the sixth goal of the match, with a successful penalty shot at the end of the first half, extending India’s lead to 6-0. Chinese Taipei scored their first goal at the end of the second half when Yong-Jyun Jhang successfully converted a penalty shot giving them their first goal and making it a 6-1 game at halftime.
Second-Half Onslaught Seals Massive Win
After the break, India really stepped up their attack. Kept scoring more goals. Five minutes into the half, Purti scored his second goal from a penalty corner, and five minutes later, Gazee Khan scored another goal from a penalty corner, making the score 8-1.
With the score 8-1, after 42 minutes, India really took off in the quarter. In the minute, Purti scored his third goal with another penalty corner. Two minutes later, Khan scored his goal, and India’s lead grew to 10-1.
The scoring wasn’t yet, and there were more goals to come. In the quarter, Varinder Singh scored from a penalty corner in the 50th minute. Siddharth Ben scored his goal just two minutes later. Finally, in the minute, Rahul Yadav scored, and India won the match 13-1.
Asia Cup 2026 Semi-Final Spot Confirmed
The victory officially confirms India’s place in the semi-finals of the U-18 Asia Cup 2026, scheduled to be played on Friday, June 5.
India completed the group stage with three wins from four matches and will now shift focus to the knockout rounds as they continue their pursuit of the continental title.
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