Kakamigahara (Japan), June 1 (IANS) Captain Ketan Kushwaha, Varinder Singh, and Shahrukh Ali scored a goal each as the Indian U-18 Men’s Hockey Team produced a dominant 4-1 victory against Korea in their third Pool A match in the U-18 Asia Cup 2026 in Kakamigahara, Japan, on Monday.

Kushwaha scored in the 3rd and 36th minutes, Varinder Singh struck in the 5th, and Shahrukh Ali sounded the board in the 54th minute for India, while Korean captain Yun Jaehyeok (21′) scored his team’s lone goal.

India started the first quarter strongly, securing an early two-goal lead. In the third minute, India earned the first penalty corner of the match and successfully converted it into the opening goal. Rahul Yadav played an incisive pass to captain Kushwaha (3′), and although his initial shot was saved by the Korean goalkeeper, the ball rebounded to him, and he slotted it into the net.

India built on the momentum and secured the second goal in the fifth minute. Gazee Khan showed great vision to find Varinder (5′) unmarked next to the goal, and he delivered a calm finish to extend India’s lead.

Korea slowed the tempo for the remainder of the first quarter in an attempt to regroup.

The second quarter saw end-to-end action from both sides, but neither team created meaningful chances inside the circle. In the 21st minute, Korea received a penalty corner that captain Jaehyeok (21′) successfully converted to reduce the deficit in the first half.

India started the third quarter on the front foot, converting yet another penalty corner in the 36th minute. Although the Korean backline stopped the initial shot at goal, they failed to clear the ball in time, and Kushwaha (36′) pounced on the opportunity to score his second goal of the evening.

Both teams secured penalty corners towards the end of the third quarter, but neither side converted.

In the 53rd minute, Korea came teasingly close to scoring when Kim Doyun deflected the ball toward the goal, but Indian goalkeeper Ayush Rajak made a great save with his stick. The very next minute, India replied with a fourth goal courtesy of Shahrukh (54′), who struck a powerful shot to sound the board and seal his team’s victory.

The win put India level on six points with Korea and Japan. The top two teams from each of the two pools will qualify for the semi-finals.

India will next face Chinese Taipei on June 3 at 1:30 PM IST in their final Pool A match.

–IANS

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