India bounced back strongly, following their loss to Australia, in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup as they beat Japan 4-3 on Wednesday. It was Mandeep Singh's hat-trick, which did the job for India in a seven-goal thrilling encounter.
Rupinder Pal Singh opened the scoring for India in the 8th minute. Japan responded brilliantly as Kazuma Murata found the back of the net in the 13th minute.
Though there were no goals in the second quarter, the match was quite interesting. However, it was the second half, which witnessed some major action with both teams playing attractive hockey.
India had their back against the wall after Japan took lead via Heita Yoshihara in the 43rd minute. The third quarter produced some end-to-end stuff. After Mandeep's strike in the 45th minute, Genki Mitani once again helped Japan take lead.
Brilliant performances from the Japanese players, who scored when it mattered most, made the match all the more exciting. But then, the Indian players took the game to the next level.
Mandeep scored two more goals in the 51st and 58th minute to help India pull off an impressive win in the final quarter.
