Harmanpreet and Sukhjeet Hit Two Each as India Beat China 5-2 to Go Top
China kept landing punches. India just landed more of them, and harder.
India beat China 5-2 in the night game at the Surjit Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar on Thursday, their second win in two games at the Asian Champions Trophy. Sukhjeet Singh scored twice from open play and was named hero of the match, captain Harmanpreet Singh scored twice from penalty corners, and Jugraj Singh added the fifth. It was the kind of win that says plenty about this Indian side: they conceded twice, never panicked, and always had another goal in them.
Sukhjeet opened the scoring in the 12th minute. China hit back through Peng Yang from a penalty corner in the 26th, and for a minute the game felt like it might turn into a scrap. It didn’t. Harmanpreet converted a penalty corner a minute later, then another in the 31st, and Sukhjeet made it 4-1 in the 34th. Chongcong Chen pulled one back from a penalty corner in the 36th, but Jugraj’s penalty corner in the 47th settled it. That settled it.
Harmanpreet now leads the tournament scoring with four goals from two games. Mandeep Singh, who hit a hat-trick in the 13-0 opening win over Bangladesh, has three. Sukhjeet has two, and so does Jugraj, and that’s the spread India want: the captain doing his damage from set pieces, the forwards doing theirs in open play.
China deserve credit for the fight they showed. They lost 5-4 to Malaysia on the opening day and they scored twice again here, both from penalty corners, against the defending champions. But they’ve now conceded ten goals in two games and they have nothing to show for it. It shows in the moments that matter: they score, then they concede again. Twice tonight India answered a China goal, the first time within a minute.
The table is tight at the top and brutal underneath it. India, Malaysia and Japan all have six points from two wins. India lead on goal difference, plus 16 after scoring 18 goals in two games. Korea, China and Bangladesh all sit on zero. Four teams reach the Mohali semi-finals, so nobody’s finished yet, but China and Korea play each other on Friday in a game neither can afford to lose.
Friday is the big one for India. Japan, also unbeaten, also on six points, in the night game at 6:30pm PKT. Japan have conceded just two goals in two games. India’s attack against Japan’s structure, with top spot on the line. That’s the game the whole week has been building towards.
Related links:
- https://sportscursor.com/act-thursday-full-card-malaysia-korea-bangladesh-japan-india-china-29-october-2026/
- https://sportscursor.com/act-friday-full-card-bangladesh-malaysia-korea-china-japan-india-30-october-2026/
- https://sportscursor.com/india-v-china-asian-champions-trophy-thursday-29-october-2026/
- https://sportscursor.com/live/
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