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Ashish Borte scored a hat-trick as India beat hosts Japan 4-1 in the final on Friday to win the men’s U-18 Asian Cup title.Porte scored in the 2nd, 28th and 34th minutes, while captain Ketan Kushwaha scored in the 30th minute as India took control of the match.
Nomada Gaku scored Japan’s only goal in the 52nd minute.After the win, Hockey India announced a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh for each player in the winning team and Rs 1.5 lakh for each member of the support team.Hockey India also announced Rs 1 lakh each to a player in the Indian women’s U-18 team, which won the bronze medal earlier in the day, and Rs 50 lakh each to a member of the support staff.
India got off to a fast start, winning a penalty within the first 90 seconds.
Porte took advantage to give India a 1-0 lead.Japan tried to respond and entered the Indian circle four times in the first quarter, but the Indian defense held firm and the visitors maintained their lead at the end of the first half.
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The hosts continued to press in the second quarter and were awarded the first penalty kick of the match, but they were unable to achieve the equaliser.India then struck again in the 28th minute when Porte converted another penalty kick to make the score 2-0.
Soon after, Prahalad Rajbhar collected the ball in a dangerous area and passed the ball to Kushwaha, who scored to extend India’s lead to 3-0 before half-time.India added a fourth goal in the third quarter. Varinder Singh’s run earned another penalty kick, and Porte completed a hat-trick in the 34th minute to put India 4-0 ahead.Japan scored the lead goal in the 52nd minute when Nomada Gakko scored from a penalty kick, making the score 4-1.The hosts were awarded three more penalty kicks in the final stages but were unable to penetrate the Indian defense again.Porte was named man of the match. He also finished as the tournament’s top scorer with 13 goals.