Sandeep Singh fired in two penalty corner goals as India defeated Japan 3-2 to notch up their fourth consecutive win and finish at the top of Group B in the hockey competitions of the Asian Games in Guangzhou on Sunday.
Sandeep kept a cent per cent record in penalty corners on Sunday, converting the two short corners India earned in the day with precision in the 38th and 62nd minute to see his team finish the group stages on an impressive note.
The other goal-getter for India, was captain Rajpal Singh, who scored in the 31st minute.
For Japan, Hiroki Sakamoto (21st and 63rd minute) scored both their goals from field efforts, once in each half.
With four wins out of as many matches, India finished on top of Group B with 12 points, while arch-rivals Pakistan finished second with nine points.
India will now take on Group A runners-up Malaysia, who beat China 4-2 in another league tie, in the semi-final on November 23 while Pakistan will be up against formidable Korea in the other last four match.
Against the Japanese, the Indian defence was not at its best and was rattled by the opponent attackers.
The Rajpal-led side was lucky as Japan failed to convert their chances into goals.
Contrary to the result, Japan had the better of the opening exchanges and could have gone ahead in the ninth minute through their first penalty corner but for Indian custodian Bharat Chetri who came out with a superb save to keep the slate clean.
Soon after, Rajpal muffed a gilt-edged chance created by Arjun Halappa.
But Japan eventually broke the deadlock in the 21st minute when Sakamoto's powerful shot from an angle beat Chetri all ends up after he was fed by a cross sent in by Tomonori Osa.
Stung by the goal, the Indians retaliated but had to wait till the 31st minute to get the equaliser when Rajpal pushed in after Halappa and Gurbaz Singh did the spadework.
After the change of ends the Indians went on the attack more and put their rivals under pressure.
The ploy paid dividends as they earned their first penalty corner two minutes into the second half and Sandeep made no mistake with his drag-flick to notch his ninth goal of the tournament which also put India 2-1 ahead.
India struck once more to increase the leeway in the 62nd minute through another penalty corner conversion by Sandeep.
Leading by 3-1 with eight minutes to go for the hooter, India decided to rest on their lead and paid the penalty when Sakamoto breached the defence and reduced the margin a minute later.
India managed to stave off any more danger and also earned their third and last penalty corner which proved unfruitful before the match ended in their favour.
India coach Jose Brasa did not mince his words over his team's shoddy display but said he was not worried about their opponent in the semis.
"I am not happy. The boys created tension for us. We won anyway and that's all that matters. But we have to improve. We topped the pool. It makes no difference who we play against in the semis," the Spaniard said.
