Jalandhar, 29 October: Captain Harmanpreet Singh and Sukhjeet Singh scored two goals each as defending champions India beat China 5-2 in the Hero Men’s Asian Champions Trophy Punjab 2026 at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium on Thursday. Jugraj Singh added the fifth from a penalty corner, while Yang Peng and Chen Chongcong scored for China.
Played in front of a loud home crowd, the win made it two from two for India after their 13-0 rout of Bangladesh in the opening match, and kept the hosts top of the table.
Sukhjeet opens the scoring
India started cautiously against a young China side. Hardik Singh made the first run into the circle in the eighth minute, and Mandeep Singh could not convert a first-time attempt.
The breakthrough came in the 12th minute. Sukhjeet brought down a long aerial pass from Jugraj, took a couple of touches past the defence and lifted the ball over goalkeeper Wu Huanyu from a tight angle. China pushed back late in the quarter, but Suraj Karkera made two quick saves to keep India ahead.
China level, Harmanpreet answers
China packed the midfield in the second quarter and made it hard for India to build attacks down the left. Harmanpreet sent an early penalty corner wide, and in the 26th minute Yang Peng drew China level with a fine drag-flick.
The lead lasted barely a minute. Harmanpreet stepped up for India’s next penalty corner and drove a powerful drag-flick into the net. Amit Rohidas then blocked a China penalty corner before the break, and India went in 2-1 up.
Three goals in six minutes
Harmanpreet scored again in the 31st minute with another quick flick from a penalty corner. Three minutes later he turned provider, sending an aerial pass to Aditya Arjun Lalage, who cut the ball back for Sukhjeet to tap in his second.
China replied in the 36th minute when Chen Chongcong deflected a penalty corner past Karkera to make it 4-2.
Jugraj seals the win
A risky clearance by the China goalkeeper gave India another penalty corner early in the final quarter, and Jugraj made it 5-2 in the 47th minute with a low, hard flick.
Angad Bir Singh won one more penalty corner late on. China referred the decision without success, but Wu Huanyu stretched out his right foot to deny Harmanpreet a hat-trick. Sukhjeet was named Player of the Match.
Fulton wants sharper finishing
India coach Craig Fulton was pleased with the tempo but not with the conversion rate. “We started moving the ball better and played with a bit more tempo. The first approach was to press high, put them under pressure and try to win the ball back. We created a lot of chances, but we didn’t take enough of them inside the circle. I think we had six or seven penalty corners but couldn’t convert. We didn’t connect well enough up front, and that’s something we need to work on before tomorrow’s game,” he said.
Standings and what’s next
India lead the table with six points and a goal difference of +16. Malaysia and Japan also have six points after Malaysia beat South Korea 3-1 and Japan edged Bangladesh 1-0 on Thursday. South Korea, China and Bangladesh are still without a point.
India face Japan on Friday at 7pm IST in Jalandhar. The six teams play a single round-robin, with the top four going through to the semi-finals in Mohali on 4 November and the medal matches on 5 November.
Five-time champions India are chasing a sixth title, weeks after they retained their Asian Games gold by beating Malaysia 5-1 in the final.
