Japan’s Shot at History: First Asian Champions Trophy Title on the Line Against India
Japan have been here before, but never quite like this.
Runners-up twice before, in 2013 and 2021, Japan walk into Thursday’s Asian Champions Trophy final in Mohali with a first title on the line. Standing in their way: India, five-time champions, unbeaten all tournament, playing at home, and fresh from putting eight past South Korea in the semifinal. It is, on paper, a mismatch. Finals are not played on paper.
Japan earned this one the hard way. Their semifinal against Malaysia finished 0-0 after 60 minutes, and it took a shootout to settle it. Japan converted all five attempts and won 5-3, holding their nerve while Malaysia’s challenge fell apart. That is the kind of win that steadies a team. They did not blow Malaysia away. They outlasted them.
The league stage tells a more mixed story. Japan finished on 10 points, second in the table, and their final league game was a 2-1 win over Malaysia. But the one result that will weigh on them is the 4-1 defeat to India on 30 October. India scored four that day and never really looked troubled. Japan will have to find something different this time, because repeating that performance gets the same result.
So what can Japan lean on? Discipline, for a start. They kept Malaysia scoreless for an hour in the semifinal, and their shootout was flawless. They have pace on the break and they do not give up cheap goals. Against an India side that has scored 42 goals in six games, keeping it tight early is the whole game plan. If Japan are still in it after the first quarter, the pressure shifts. India are expected to win this. Expectation is a heavy thing in a final.
For our money, India are clear favourites, and rightly so. But Japan have already shown they can win ugly, and a one-off final is exactly where that matters. A first Asian Champions Trophy title would be the biggest result in Japanese men’s hockey history. They are 60 minutes from it.
The final starts at 7 p.m. IST, 6:30 p.m. PKT, at the Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium in Mohali. The bronze medal match, Malaysia against South Korea, is at 4 p.m. PKT.
