Pakistan lost a nail-biting men’s hockey semi-final 4-3 match against India at the Asian Games 2026 in Japan on Thursday, and the Pakistanis missed a chance to go into the final.
It was a close call in the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium, as Pakistan began to play after India secured a 10-minute lead.
It was India’s captain Harmanpreet Singh who found the target from the penalty area first, followed by another strike to get his men 2-0 up front in the opening quarter.
India extended their lead with Sukhjeet Singh and now Pakistan had a tough task ahead of them. The Pakistan side, however, came on the reply to make it 3-1 before the break.
The Green Shirts looked more attacking after the break and slowly started to swing the tide in their favour. The Pakistan forward Hannan Shahid hit a shot in the third quarter to re-enter the game and Waheed Rana scored to level the game with Pakistan up 3-3.
The scores remained even and both teams vied to score the winning goal. Pakistan were given chances to lead, one of which was a penalty corner in the dying seconds, but India were able to hold on to their lead.
The Indian side finally scored the game-winning goal in the final 50 seconds to give them the victory. Abhishek’s effort was reflected back, but then it hit a Pakistan stick and found its way into the net, putting India ahead in a dramatic manner, 4-3.
Pakistan failed to get a second equaliser in the dying moments and India booked their ticket for the Asian Games final. The performance also marked the end of Pakistan’s bid for the gold medal and India moved to the title match on Saturday.
Pakistan had advanced to the semi-final stage after coming in second in Pool B. They finished with four wins and one narrow defeat (5-4 v Malaysia) in their five group games and advanced to the quarterfinals.
They won four of their five group games against Thailand, Uzbekistan, China and Oman, and advanced to the quarterfinals with a narrow 5-4 defeat to Malaysia.
It’s a defeat for Pakistan which will now play for the bronze medal while the hockey final at the Asian Games will take place on Saturday.