India Reclaim Asian Games Hockey Gold With 5-1 Drubbing Of Japan, Qualify For Paris Olympics

Skipper Harmanpreet Singh led admirably as the Indian men's hockey team mauled defending champions Japan 5-1 to reclaim the Asian Games gold, their fourth in the continental showpiece, after nine years and qualify for next year's Paris Olympics on Friday. The Indians, who had to be content with a bronze medal in the last edition in Jakarta, thus won their fourth Asian Games gold and first since the 2014 Incheon edition. India's other gold medals came in 1966 and 1998, both times in Bangkok. South Korea won the bronze medal after eking out a close 2-1 win over hosts China.