India beat Japan 5-3 to end pool engagements on a high in Olympic men's hockey

The Indian men's hockey team registered a comprehensive 5-3 win over hosts Japan to cement its quarterfinal spot with a second-place finish in Pool A at the Olympics on Friday.

Already assured of a quarterfinal berth going into the match, India scored through Gurjant Singh (17th, 56th), Harmanpreet Singh (13th), Shamsher Singh (34th) and Nilakanta Sharma (51st) to register their third consecutive win at the Oi Hockey Stadium.

By virtue of this win, India finished second in Pool A behind Australia with four victories out of five Games.


The Kookaburras ended their pool engagements on top with four wins and a draw.

India's lone defeat -- a 1-7 drubbing -- came at the hands of Australia.

The top four teams from each pool of six qualify for the quarterfinals.