India enter Asia Cup final as Fulton's patience pays off with Dilpreet's masterclass against China

The first sign of jeopardy being washed away was seen even before the Indian men's team entered the field of play for their final Super 4 match against China. A Malaysian win would've put some pressure on India to win or draw against China at least. But Malaysia, after being 1-3 up, conceded four times to lose 4-3 against South Korea. This meant India only had to avoid a big defeat against their opponents.

The next sign was how India started their game - proper domination on and off the ball. The first goal was scored by India's in-form forward Shilanand Lakra in the fourth minute. The second came off a penalty corner rebound, converted from a close range by Dilpreet Singh in the seventh minute. And then more goals followed -- Mandeep Singh, Raj Kumal Pal, Sukhjeet Singh and Abhishek (twice) all got on the scoresheet for a big 7-0 victory.

It was a demoralizing loss for China - which results in them playing the third-place playoff match rather than the final. It's going to be either India or South Korea who will qualify for next year's World Cup by winning on Sunday.

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There was a time in this tournament when Indian forwards had been struggling to take their chances. It wasn't only in this tournament, at the Pro League, the forwards, except for Abhishek, struggled greatly. Against China on Saturday, all of India's forwards scored. Seven goals without zero contribution from dragflick expert Harmanpreet - an almost unheard of scenario for Fulton's vintage.

It wasn't just the forwards - India's midfielders and defenders were all at their best on Saturday. Vivek Sagar Prasad had one of his best games in the midfield - intercepting almost everything in the middle and initiating attacks.

It was difficult to spot one standout performer among the players because every Indian player had a near-perfect game, but Dilpreet Singh deserves mentioning. He was outstanding going forward against China, winning crucial tackles on top of the circle, playing the right passes to his fellow attackers and was at the right spot to win rebounds.

Dilpreet is a curious enigma. As a promising forward, he was part of the Indian squad who won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Quick on the ball, he specializes in finding great positions inside the circle and follows it up with clinical finishes. His problem, however, has been consistency. Dilpreet's form dipped post the Tokyo Olympics and he found himself out of the team. After Craig Fulton took charge, Dilpreet made his way back, but performances remained inconsistent. To compound his issues, he got injured in 2023 which led to a long layoff.

Once he was back fit in 2024, he made it to the core group but there were still doubts over his place in the team. There were forwards in the junior and A teams who seemed more deserving of a spot in the senior squad than Dilpreet. He scored the odd goal, but if not for the Junior World Cup scheduled later this year, his place at the Asia Cup probably would've been taken by some other youngster. Even in this tournament, he remained inconsistent - only to finally come good at a crucial juncture.

After the match, Dilpreet revealed that though he was not under pressure, he was frustrated in not being able to do the right stuff on the pitch. "I didn't have pressure but at the same time, there have been days where I wanted to do the right thing but it was not happening. But my teammates and staff supported me throughout. I had a difficult game against Kazakhstan, but after the game, the head coach told me that I had all the qualities of a good forward. It doesn't matter if it didn't happen in one game. Things will happen in the coming matches."

Another key aspect of Saturday's win was how India countered the low block of China. Fulton, after the match said, they had learned from their previous match against the same opponents so they went for a lot of aerial balls which made it difficult for China to defend. "It was relevant to what China did. They play really deep and low, they don't want to push up or press so we had to come with a plan. That was the plan," he said.

India will take on defending champions South Korea for the title on Sunday. India dropped points only once in the tournament and that was against South Korea in a 2-2 draw. Earlier on Saturday, South Korea pulled off a remarkable comeback win over Malaysia, scoring goals when down by two and then coming up with some stunning defending inside the circle.

It's clear that India won't have it easy but there's no denying that they are now the big favourites for the title.