Harmanpreet Singh (10th and 53rd minutes) scored a brace, while Dilpreet Singh (23rd), Jaramnpreet Singh (34th), Sumit (46th) and Shamsher Singh (54th) also made their way into the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium Entered the list of goalscorers for India.

India, which has already sealed a place in the semifinals, finished the round robin phase of the five-nation tournament with 10 points at the top of the table, ahead of Korea (6), Japan (5), Pakistan (2) and hosts Bangladesh (0).

This was India’s third trot victory. The team, led by Manpreet Singh, drew in their first game against Korea and defeated Bangladesh 9-0.

India’s semi-final opponent has not yet been determined.

The sovereign victory will give India a huge boost as the business end of the tournament is full of confidence.

They completely outperformed Japan, the gold medalists of the Asian Games, in all departments.

India dominated the first half. In the first six minutes of the first quarter they earned two consecutive penalty corners, but could not use them either. Shortly thereafter, Japan also wasted a penalty corner when their striker shot out.

India stormed on and received another PC, this time Hardik Singh kicking the ball into play perfectly, making Harmanpreet toss it home and give the defending champions a 1-0 lead.

The result could have been 2-0 towards the end of the first quarter if veteran Lalit Upadhyay hadn’t missed a sitter.

A PC was handed to Japan shortly after the five-minute mark in the second quarter, India dismissed the decision, but the TV referee found no conclusive evidence to disapprove of Japan.

In the 23rd minute the trio combined Mandeep Singh, Shilanand Lakra and Dilpreet well, Dilpreet doubled India’s lead.

Japan attacked as well, but the Indian defense thwarted their attempts when the third Olympics went into the break two goals ahead.

Japan started offensive in the second half but India scored their third goal thanks to a clean shot from Jaramanpreet.

Japan were a crucial pc looking to seize their chance in the 36th minute, but India goalkeeper Suraj Karkera, who shone in the absence of regular P Sreejesh, made a great save to fend them off.

Japan tried to up the ante when it attacked in large numbers. With India outnumbered by one man, Japan looked for an opportunity when Kenta Tanaka broke the Indian defense with a solo run, but Karkera again foiled the attack.

Japan continued to test the Indian defense, but the defense stood high.

India added further pain to Japan when Sumit scored in the first minute of the final quarter. Harmanpreet then scored the 5-0 by hitting the ball in the top right corner of the goal post for his second of the game.

Two minutes later – Juniors Shamsher and Shilanand – combined wonderfully as the former scored India’s sixth goal.

Japan tried their best to score but couldn’t penetrate the Indian defense. The dominance of India was so great that they defended all five penalty corners of their opponents.