India vs Pakistan 2-1: Asian Champions Trophy 2024 hockey – as it happened

India maintained their perfect record at the Asian Champions Trophy, beating archrivals Pakistan 2-1 in Saturday’s highly-anticipated fixture.

Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored twice to guide the team to their 17th win over Pakistan in the regional competition, which is being held in China this year.

The tournament’s semifinals will be held on Monday followed by the title clash on Tuesday.

I hope you enjoyed our live coverage and on behalf of Al Jazeera, this is Manasi Pathak signing off.

Al Jazeera will also bring you the build-up and live text commentary of the North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday.

The match will kick off at 13:00 GMT.

The live coverage of India vs Pakistan in hockey’s Asian Champions trophy has ended, but we have more live action waiting for you.

Al Jazeera will bring you live coverage of the final T20 international cricket match between England and Australia on Sunday.

The fixture, scheduled for 13:30 GMT, will decide the winner of the three-match series between the rivals.

The final round-robin match between Japan and China will determine who is the fourth semifinalist, joining India, Pakistan and South Korea.

China, who are fifth in the points table with three points, need to beat Japan to make it to the semifinals.

If they fail to win, Malaysia, who are fourth with five points, will progress.

India and Pakistan will next play in the semifinals on Monday.

Their opponents are yet to be decided, as the fourth and final spot is still up for grabs.

The final will be played on Tuesday.

Here’s how India have fared so far at the tournament:

• India 3-0 China
• India 5-1 Japan
• India 8-1 Malaysia
• India 3-1 South Korea
• India 2-1 Pakistan

Indian fans are enjoying their team’s dominance in this tournament.

Their 2-1 win over archrivals Pakistan is trending at the number one spot on X.

Goals

• India: 2
• Pakistan: 1

Possession

• India: 56%
• Pakistan: 44%

Field Goals

• India: 0
• Pakistan: 1

Circle Entries

• India: 19
• Pakistan: 13

Penalty Corners

• India: 5
• Pakistan: 7

Earlier on Saturday, South Korea scored a late goal to hold Malaysia to a 3-3 draw in a high-octane match at the Asian Champions trophy.

The draw lifted South Korea to the third spot in the points table, hereby assuring their place in the semifinals.

But it left Malaysia’s fate in the hands of Japan and China, who face off later today.

“It was an important match for us to stay in contention for the semifinals but it was unfortunate that we conceded a last-second goal that helped South Korea split the points with us, Malaysia’s Marhan Jalil said after the game.

“Hopefully we still have two more matches for us in this tournament and will look forward to give it our all.”

India, Pakistan and South Korea have booked their spots in the semifinals. The fourth and final berth will be decided after the Japan vs China match later on Saturday.

India are table-toppers with 15 points, Pakistan are second with eight points and South Korea are third with six points.

Malaysia are fourth with five points, China are second bottom with three points and Japan are bottom with one point.

China need to beat Japan to leapfrog Malaysia and make it to the semifinals.

Sharma was a travelling reserve for India’s bronze-winning Olympic squad at the Paris Games, but started in the match against Pakistan.

Speaking about his improvement of late, he said: “When we were in Paris, I learnt a lot of things there.

“When I have the ball, I don’t want to lose it. Just protecting the ball is the motive for me,” he concluded.

Nilakanta Sharma, named player of the match, speaks following the victory.

“Pakistan gave us a wonderful fight. We won the match but we are not happy because when we didn’t have the ball, we got into a bit of trouble.

“It’s because we had a few new players … we still need to improve.”

India vs Pakistan head-to-head record at the competition:

• Matches: 26
• Wins for India: 17
• Wins for Pakistan: 5
• Draws: 4

The Pakistani fans following this match must be reminiscing about the 1990s and 2000s when one man ruled the striking circle. Sohail Abbas, better known as the King of the Drag Flick, terrorised opposition all over the world with his unmatched accuracy from penalty corners.

Abbas was the leading scorer in international hockey in its modern – astroturf – era and the second leading goalscorer of all time with 348 goals.

To see Pakistan miss so many chances from penalty corners is a reflection of the state of hockey in the country, which has spiralled over the past decade or so.

The final hooter goes off and India have beaten their archrivals Pakistan 2-1.

A brace from India captain Harmanpreet Singh seals a fifth straight win for the Paris Olympic bronze medallists at this year’s tournament.

Ahmad Nadeem scored the only goal for Pakistan, who suffer their first defeat of the tournament, having bagged two wins and two draws in their previous matches.

Sukhjeet earns a late penalty corner for India. Harmanpreet’s drag flick is blocked before the rebound from an Indian player goes off-target.

59 mins: India 2-1 Pakistan

That means India, too, will finish the match with 10 players, just like Pakistan.

58 mins: India 2-1 Pakistan

Harmanpreet finds Pal inside the circle with an aerial pass, but Uttam can’t quite keep hold of it. He quickly applauds the Indian skipper for his excellent effort.

56 mins: India 2-1 Pakistan

With a one-goal and numerical advantage here, India push forward as Abhishek surges ahead. However, his back-handed effort is blocked by the Pakistan keeper.

53 mins: India 2-1 Pakistan

The on-field umpire takes a review for serious misconduct between Jugraj and Rana inside the circle.

The TV umpire suggests Rana gets a yellow card for hitting the Indian in his face with the shoulder.

The Pakistan player is sent off for 10 minutes, meaning their team will have to finish the match with 10 players.

51 mins: India 2-1 Pakistan