ACT PIX: India set up China final after Harmanpreet brace

Skipper Harmanpreet Singh's sublime form resulted in twin strikes as defending champions India entered the final of the Asian Champions Trophy with a clinical 4-1 win against South Korea in the semi-final in Hulunbuir, China, on Monday.

India scored through Uttam Singh (13th minute), skipper Harmanpreet Singh (19th, 45th) and Jarmanpreet Singh (32nd), while Korea's lone goal came from through Yang Jihun (33rd)'s penalty corner conversion.

India will take on hosts China in Tuesday's final.

Earlier in the day, China defeated Pakistan 2-0 via shoot-out in the first semifinal after the two teams finished 1-1 at the end of regulation 60 minutes.

In the previous league stage encounter between the two finalists, India prevailed 3-0.

Pakistan and Korea will face off in the third place classification match which will also be played on Tuesday.

Meanwhile in the fifth-sixth place classification match, Japan beat Malaysia 4-2 in shoot-out following a 4-4 stalemate in normal time.

In the second semi-final as expected, the Indians started on the offensive and tested the Korean defence with persistent attacks from the word go.

The Koreans, on the other hand, were content to sit back and defend and rely on sporadic counter attacks.

Abhishek came tantalisingly close to handing India the lead in the fourth minute but his reverse hit was brilliantly saved by Korean goalkeeper Kim Jaehan.

The Indian made promising build ups and penetrated the Korean circle on consistent basis in the first quarter.

India's attacking intent finally paid off in the 13th minute when Uttam positioned himself at the right place at the right time to tap in Araijeet Singh Hundal's supply from the right.

A minute from the first break, Korea secured back-to-back penalty corners but failed to utilise the chances.

Four minutes into the second quarter, India secured their first penalty corner and Harmanpreet scored his sixth goal of the tournament to hand his side a 2-0 lead.

At the stroke of half-time, custodian Suraj Karkera came out of his line to save an effort from the opposition player.

India continued in the same vein after the change of ends and extended their lead two minutes into the third quarter.

A brilliant scoop from Sumit from the right finds Jarmanpreet just outside the circle on the left flank and the latter neatly collected the ball and took a step or two to get inside the circle and slap the ball into the Korean goal to extend India's lead.

But Korea pulled one back a minute later from a penalty corner through the tournament's top-scorer Yang Jihun.

The goal hardly bothered the Indians as they continued their attacking game and dominated the share of exchanges.

With a second left for the third quarter, India secured another penalty corner when Korean goalkeeper Jaehan was shown the yellow card for handling the ball out side the circle, and Harmanpreet made no mistake to extend the lead.

Eight minutes from the final hooter, India's second goalkeeper Karkera made a fine double save to deny Park Cheoleon, but the Koreans secured a penalty corner which went in vain.

Thereafter, it was controlled show from the Indians as they defended their lead with consummate ease to march into their fifth final appearance in the tournament.

Earlier, in a mega upset, China stunned Pakistan 2-0 in the shoot-out to enter the final of Hero Asian Champions Trophy at the Moqi Hockey Training Base in Hulunbuir, China, on Monday.

This is the first time in the history of the Asian Champions Trophy that China has made it to the final, while the second highest number of title winners Pakistan will play for the bronze medal against the loser of the second semi-final between India and Korea.

China's goalkeeper Caiyu Wang was outstanding in his efforts to keep a clean slate in the shoot-out, while, Benhai Chen and Chanliang Lin scored for China. Earlier in the match, Yuanlin Lu had given China an early 1-0 lead in the 18th minute.

The first semi-final of the day truly lived up to its billing with China posing a mega threat to Pakistan's hopes of making the final right from the start. They were gritty in their pursuit, dominated the ball possession and created early chances.

China was buoyed by the unprecedented support from the home crowd, who turned up in large numbers as it was a government holiday for the Mooncake Festival which marks the post-autumn harvest celebrations across China.

After a 0-0 stalemate in the opening quarter, China scored in the 18th minute through Yuanlin Lu's powerful dragflick to convert from the penalty corner. The 1-0 lead for China put Pakistan on the backfoot.

China also came up with brilliant defending in the second quarter to stop Pakistan from scoring a penalty corner. They had created as many as five penalty corners this quarter but could not breach the Chinese defence.

China punctured Pakistan's attack repeatedly and kept the pressure on through tactful defending. Though Pakistan mustered a goal in the 37th minute through Ahmed Nadeem, China ensured they didn't concede another goal.

They played a disciplined game, tackled Pakistani attackers with strong man-to-man marking to ensure they didn't create scoring opportunities. Though Pakistan made a handful of circle entries in the following minutes in the third and the fourth quarter, China restricted their shots on goal quite effectively to keep the scoreline at 1-1 stalemate.