Asia Cup Hockey: Confident India face Japan in Semi-final

Unbeaten so far in the tournament, a confident India would look to carry on their winning momentum and book a place in the summit clash when they take on Japan in the first semi-final of the eighth junior men's Asia Cup hockey tournament in Kuantan on Saturday.Going into the semifinal, the Indian colts would also be bolstered by their 2-1 win over Japan in their opening pool match of the tournament at the at Wisma Belia Hockey Stadium.

The win in the pool meeting will definitely give a psychological advantage to India over their opponents.The Indian team has been unbeaten in the tournament so far with wins over Japan, Malaysia, China and Oman.Drag-flicket Harmanpreet Singh has been in rollicking form scoring nine goals in the tournament so far. Besides the Indian forwardline has also shown promise.

On the other hand, Japan's performance has also picked up in the past two matches with wins over China in their last group stage match and Bangladesh in the quarter finals.
And come on Saturday Japan would be looking to end India's unbeaten run in the tournament.

Speaking about Saturday's encounter, Indian men's hockey team's chif coach Harendra Singh said: "We have faced Japan earlier in the pool stage. We are familiar with their game which gives us confidence. The rest day has given us enough time to figure out the flaws from the first match against Japan and we have ardently worked on rectifying them.

"Semi final is a different ball game all together and we will have to concentrate on playing our natural game without being too cautious. We will be hoping for a good team performance."