Odisha’s Birendra Lakra-Led Indian Team Bags Bronze In Asia Cup

Jakarta: India clinched the bronze medal in the Asia Cup hockey championship beating Japan 1-0 in the third-place play-off match here on Wednesday.

Rajkumar Pal sounded the board in the 10th minute. That turned out to be the only goal of the match as Olympian Birendra Lakra-led team played solid hockey to deny Japan the equalizer.

Let us applaud the young Indian Team for their outstanding performance in the Hero Asia Cup 2022, Jakarta, Indonesia for winning a Bronze. 🥉

We are proud of this team 💙#IndiaKaGame #HockeyIndia #MatchDay #INDvsJPN @CMO_Odisha @sports_odisha @IndiaSports @Media_SAI pic.twitter.com/ptTFDJo7Y5

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) June 1, 2022

The Indian team, comprising a number of youngsters including Odisha’s Dipsan Tirkey, Avishek Lakra and Sanjip Neelam Xess, narrowly missed out on a final berth after drawing 4-4 with Korea on Tuesday.

Malaysia and Korea qualified for the title clash on better goal difference despite finishing with 5 points along with India.

India next travel to Belgium and The Netherlands where they play the last set of FIH Pro League matches. Odisha Olympian Amit Rohidas, who was rested for the Asia Cup, will be back as captain of the team.

India are currently on top of the standings in FIH Pro League.