"VAN" (Sports Desk - 08.09.2025) :: The Hero Men’s Asia Cup Rajgir, Bihar 2025 came to a conclusion today with India winning the final against Korea to win the gold medal and qualify for the FIH Hockey World Cup Belgium and Netherlands 2026!
The competition got underway on 29 August with an initial pool stage. India finished atop Pool A standings winning all three matches, followed by China in second place — who edged ahead of Japan through a better goal difference. Malaysia matched India’s result in Pool B by winning all their matches, finishing on 9 points, ahead of Korea in second place. As top two finishers in the first pool stage, India, China, Malaysia and Korea progressed to the next stage; the Super 4’s pools stage.
In the Super 4’s stage, all teams faced each other once. India finished at the top of the standings following a draw with Korea and wins over Malaysia and China getting them to 7 points. Korea, who ended on four points, finished second, marginally ahead of Malaysia and China, who both finished on three points. India and Korea, through their top-2 finish in the Super 4s qualified for the final, while Malaysia would take on China in the bronze medal match.
The bronze medal match took place first. Malaysia, who had been terribly disappointed to miss out on the final due to a late loss to Korea just a day earlier, made sure to finish their campaign on a high by winning the bronze medal. Norsyafiq Sumantri scored the first goal for the Speedy Tigers in the opening quarter, which would be the only goal of the opening half. Akhimullah added two more goals in the second half to put the match beyond China’s reach. China pulled one goal back in the 54th minute, but Syed Cholan scored right after for Malaysia to ensure no comeback was made as the Speedy Tigers walked off with a 4-1 win.
India and Korea met in the final, having played out a 2-2 draw in the Super 4’s stage. India however had hit their stride by the time of the final and started off strong, scoring twice in the opening half. They had the opportunity to extend the lead further with a penalty stroke, but with captain and usual stroke taker Harmanpreet Singh off the field, Jugraj Singh stepped up to take it, but his attempt was saved brilliantly by Korean keeper Jaehan Kim. The second half followed a similar pattern however, with India finding two more goals to put the game away. Indian forward Dilpreet Singh was a particular stand out, scoring twice and winning the penalty corner that was converted by Amit Rohidas for India’s fourth goal. Korea finally pulled one goal back through a smart penalty corner variation, finished by Dain Son, but that goal proved to be nothing more than consolation as India walked away with the gold medal and qualified for the FIH Hockey World Cup Belgium and Netherlands 2026.
Dilpreet Singh was awarded player of the match for his stellar attacking work and said, “Winning the Asia Cup was really important for us. It’s been 8 years since India won the trophy so it was time to bring it home. But the biggest target was qualifying for the World Cup by winning this event, so we are really happy that we achieved that target.”
India now become the eighth team to qualify for the men’s FIH Hockey World Cup Belgium and Netherlands 2026. Belgium and Netherlands, on account of being hosts of the event, gained direct qualification. Australia and Spain qualified through the previous two editions of the FIH Hockey Pro League. Argentina secured qualification through the Pan American Cup, Germany qualified from the Eurohockey Championship and New Zealand qualified through the Oceania Cup. Continental championships in Africa will determine one more direct qualifier for the event, with the remaining seven teams qualifying through the FIH Hockey World Cup Qualifiers in 2026.
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