India thrash Malaysia 5-1 to defend Asian Games hockey gold and book LA 2028 berth

India thrashed Malaysia 5-1 in the men’s hockey final at the 2026 Asian Games in Kakamigahara on Saturday, defending their continental crown for the first time and booking a direct place at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Captain Harmanpreet Singh led from the front with a brace of penalty-corner drag-flicks in the 11th and 57th minutes, ending the tournament as top-scorer with 12 goals, PTI reported. Jugraj Singh doubled the lead with another corner conversion in the 23rd minute, vice-captain Hardik Singh converted a penalty stroke in the 42nd minute, and Shilanand Lakra completed the scoring with a field goal in the 54th.

Malaysia’s lone reply came from Shello Silverius in the 14th minute, three minutes after India had taken the lead. India dominated, earning 14 penalty corners to Malaysia’s two, and pulled away with two late goals after a competitive first half.

The triumph is India’s fifth men’s hockey gold at the Asian Games after 1966, 1998, 2014 and 2022, and makes Harmanpreet the first Indian captain to lift back-to-back titles. For veteran Manpreet Singh it was a third Asian Games gold, the most by any Indian, having been part of the 2014 and 2022 champion teams.

It also completed a historic double for Indian hockey: the women’s team won gold on Friday, beating defending champions China 1-0 to end a 44-year wait, making this the first Asian Games in which both Indian teams topped the podium. Pakistan took the men’s bronze, beating South Korea 5-3 earlier on Saturday.

Sources: PTI via ThePrint, The Indian Express, The Times of India