Japan beat Britain to keep momentum going

continued their impressive run in the Sultan of Johor Cup when they defeated last year’s runners-up Britain 2-1 at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium in Johor Baru yesterday.

The hard fought win came on the back of a 2-1 victory over defending champions Australia on Saturday.

Japan scored two early goals and then kept the 2015 champions at bay for the rest of the game.

Kosei Kawabe (10th) and Raiki Fujishima (29th) netted for Japan while Britain’s goal was scored by Stuart Rushmere (30th).

In another match, India hammered New Zealand 7-1 with goals from Prabhjot Singh (sixth), Shilanand Lakra (15th, 43rd), Harmanjit Singh (21st), Mohamed Faraz (23th), Abhishek (50th) and Mandeep Mor (60th).

Sam Hiha replied for the Kiwis in the 53rd minute.

Britain coach Jon Bleby gave credit to the Japanese for their good display.

“Japan are a good team and they played very well today. They took their chances and made sure their defence was tight.

“We too had a good game and we dominated the fourth quarter. But unfortunately, we failed to finish the moves we created,” he said.

Japanese coach Hiroki Sakamoto said: “It was a good performance and we played much better than the first game (against Australia). Still, there are several areas for us to improve on. We want to keep the momentum going into the next match.”

Japan 2 Britain 1; India 7 New Zealand 1; Australia 6 Malaysia 1. Australia v Britain (4.05pm); India v Japan (6.05pm); New Zealand v Malaysia (8.35pm).