Skipper Harmanpreet Singh scored a brace as defending champions India beat Korea 3-1 to register their fourth consecutive win at the Hero Asian Champions Trophy in Hulunbuir, China on Thursday.
Paris Olympics bronze medallist India had defeated China 3-0 in their opening game followed by a thumping 5-0 win over Japan before thrashed last year's runner-up Malaysia 8-1.
Already assured of a semi-final berth, India will play arch-rivals Pakistan on Saturday in their last league match in the six-team competition.
The top four teams from the league stages will qualify for the semis scheduled on Monday, while the final will be played next Tuesday.
India continued their fine form and struck twice early in the first quarter to take a 2-0 lead.
Araijeet Singh Hundal, who scored a brace against Malaysia, scored the first goal in the eighth minute before Harmanpreet, regarded as one of the world's best dragflickers, converted two penalty corners in the ninth and 43rd minutes.
Korea's lone goal was scored by Jihun Yang in the 30th minute from a penalty corner.
As has been the case in the tournament so far, the Indians started on an aggressive note with Araijeet handing his side the lead with a brilliant strike after being fed by Sukhjeet Singh.
A minute later, the promising Raj Kumar Pal, who struck a hat-trick against Malaysia on Wednesday, earned a penalty corner for India and captain Harmanpreet converted the chance with a powerful dragflick.
India's reserve goalkeeper Suraj Karkera was impressive under the bar, denying Korea on a few occasions in the second quarter.
After an impressive first quarter, the Indians seemed to have gone into a shell in the next 15 minutes as Korea dominated the proceedings with continuous forays on the rival citadel.
The Indian defence stood tall until Korea pulled a goal just at the stroke of half-time through Yang whose effort went into the net after getting a deflection from Manpreet Singh's stick from a penalty corner opportunity.
The Koreans secured back-to-back penalty corners in the 35th minute but India defended bravely.
India secured their second penalty corner two minutes later but wasted the chance.
The holders managed to restore their two-goal lead in the 43rd minute when Harmanpreet scored with a powerful low flick to the left of the Korean goalkeeper Jaehan Kim.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Jarmanpreet Singh conceded a penalty corner but the Indian defence was up to the task.
Thereafter, the Indians controlled the proceedings and did not let Korea create any scoring opportunity.
Pakistan thrash hosts China
Pakistan continued their unbeaten run in the tournament as they registered a well-earned 5-1 win against hosts China at the Moqi Hockey Training Base in Hulunbuir, China.
With this win, Pakistan have moved up to the second spot in the points table. With another day's play remaining in the league stage, Pakistan continue to stay in contention for a spot in the semi-finals.
Goals were scored by Rehman Abdul (23rd minute), Ahmad Nadeem (36th, 56th) and Hannan Shahid (46th, 60th) in Pakistan's win while Jiesheng Gao (48th) scored the lone goal for China.
At the end of day four at the prestigious event, India continues to lead the points table with Pakistan placed second, Korea is placed third while Malaysia have managed to squeeze past China after today's win.
Pakistan were a little sluggish with their attack in the opening quarter as they allowed China to make easy forays into their striking circle. The hosts, motivated by the home crowd support, made six circle entries and took four potential shots on goal in the opening minutes but could not beat the resilient Pakistan defence.
After the first quarter ended in a stalemate, Pakistan bounced back in the game with speed and vigour to create chances in the circle. They made as many as eight circle entries which resulted in them fetching the first PC of the match but could not convert from it.
However, Abdul was successful in scoring a field goal in the 23rd minute to put Pakistan ahead by 1-0. They further extended the lead to 2-0 in the 36th minute after Nadeem scored.
Though they could have furthered the lead in this quarter when they were awarded a penalty stroke, Chinese goalie Weihao Wang was exceptional to make the save bringing great sigh of relief for home fans in the stadium.
Pakistan, however, did manage to convert a third goal when they won a PC in the 46th minute. It was a clever-variation with Abu Mahmood taking the dragflick only to find Hannan waiting in the corner of the post to find a perfect deflection.
There was no chance for Wang to stop this one as Pakistan extended their lead to a formidable 3-0. Two minutes later, China ensured their fans rejoiced as they scored through a PC in the 48th minute. Gao, who scored in China's opening goal in their match against Korea yesterday, was on-target.
The final moments of the match saw both teams trade PCs. Although neither converted from these opportunities, Pakistan scored twice through Nadeem and Hannan in the 56th and 60th minutes to end the match on a high, with 5-1 victory.
