Industry Odisha Bureau, Oct 1: India beat arch-rivals Pakistan 4-3 in a dramatic men’s hockey semifinal at the Asian Games 2026 at Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium on Thursday to reach the final and secure a medal. The defending champions are now one victory away from retaining their title and securing qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
India appeared to be heading for a comfortable win after taking a 3-0 lead, but Pakistan mounted a strong comeback to level the match in the final quarter. Abhishek then scored the decisive goal in the final minute to send India into the gold-medal match.
The result also created Asian Games history, with both the Indian men’s and women’s hockey teams reaching the final at the same edition of the Games for the first time since 1998.
India made a strong start and took the lead in the fifth minute. Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty-corner opportunity, finding a gap between Pakistan goalkeeper Muneeb-ur-Rehman Raza’s legs. He doubled India’s advantage in the 13th minute with another powerful penalty-corner strike.
Sukhjeet Singh made it 3-0 in the 23rd minute after Manpreet Singh won possession and Shilanand Lakra sent the ball across goal.
Pakistan reduced the deficit through Abu Mahmood in the 30th minute. Hannan Shahid then scored in the 45th minute before Rana Waheed completed the comeback three minutes into the final quarter.
With the match level at 3-3, Abhishek found space on the right side of the circle and got a deflection on his effort, sending the ball into the net with seconds remaining.
The win extended India’s unbeaten run against Pakistan to 21 matches. India will face the winner of South Korea and Malaysia in the final.
