India win Asian Champions Trophy hockey: How Jugraj Singh, with an assist from Harmanpreet Singh, became unlikely hero

Standing near the edge of the circle with the ball glued to his stick isn’t an unfamiliar situation for the defender and drag-flicker. But to be in that position inside the opposition’s ‘D’ – with an unobstructed sight of a field goal but a lot of work still to be done – in the final of a continental championship isn’t something he’d have ever thought of.

Yet, here he was. As hosts China frustrated India for 51 minutes by blocking all their goal-scoring avenues and smothering the attackers, it was two defenders who combined to lead India to consecutive Asian Champions Trophy titles with a 1-0 win in Tuesday’s final.

Jugraj’s first field goal

Captain Harmanpreet Singh entered the circle from the baseline, cut back a pass towards Jugraj, who was unmarked six yards away from the goal. And with the coolness of a seasoned striker, the 27-year-old controlled the ball with his first touch and pushed it past the Chinese goalkeeper with his second to score what proved to be the winner.

After scoring from penalty corners and penalty strokes during his entire international career, Jugraj scored his first field goal in his 63rd match for India.

Jugraj looked a little dazed as he slapped his thighs in celebration, as if unable to believe himself that he’d scored a goal – a field goal, no less. And the timing of it could not have been better.

Until that moment, China looked like they were succeeding in their game plan – keeping the scorelines close and taking the match into shootouts, where they would have a better chance of winning.

The hosts did so with some incredibly shrewd tactics, as they had done throughout this competition.

Resilient China

In 2008, after China’s women’s team won the silver medal at the Beijing Olympics, a sizable number of schools were designated ‘National Olympic Reserve Bases for Hockey Talents’. Inner Mongolia was one of the regions that benefited from the programme through which future stars were identified and shaped through systemised training.

Sixteen years later, it wasn’t a surprise that six players in the squad that lined up against India for the final were from Inner Mongolia. Shaped by club coaches – some of whom were international experts – even when they were in school, the current crop of China’s players are arguably the first to come through a proper channel.

China may still not possess the same set of skills that some of the best in the business do. But in the last week, they have shown if there’s a plan and the players are fit enough to execute it, they can create all sorts of problems.

Against the Olympic bronze medallists, the world number 23 side looked prepared to play the match with very limited possession. But they kept their defensive shape and chased down every pass. They doubled-teamed every time an Indian player had the ball, hurrying them and leading to turnovers, and were brave enough to push forward on the rare occasions they could.

It’s not like India ran out of ideas. Harmanpreet would switch flanks to change the angles of the low, hard long passes he’d drill into the ‘D’ from half-line. Vivek Sagar Prasad, Manpreet Singh and Nilakanta Sharma would combine to create chances for the forwards. Raj Kumar Pal would use his rubbery wrists to dodge the defenders and find their foot.

But none of it – neither the intricate patterns India would weave inside the attacking third nor the one-touch play; neither the counterattacks nor the penalty corners won – worked. India were thwarted either by China’s goalkeeper Wang Weihao, who pulled off some stunning saves. Or a stubborn defence whose work rate was unquestionable.

From the sidelines, coach Craig Fulton would signal his players to pass the ball quicker and raise the intensity. They did that, but as the minutes ticked by, and the scores remained goalless, the possibility of a shootout loomed large.

And then the two defenders combined on the night India’s attackers endured an off day. A Harmanpreet assist for a field goal by Jugraj is a rare occurrence. But these days, Indian hockey is full of pleasant surprises. Like two impressive podium finishes in two months. And, instead of crumbling under pressure, somehow finding a way to win even on days when they aren’t really that good.