Indian men’s hockey team won the bronze medal at Asian Champions Trophy after beating Pakistan 4-3 in third-place play-off match.

India, who were the defending champions along with Pakistan in the last edition of the tournament in Muscat, will return with a consolation prize after having lost to Japan 3-5 in the semifinals on Tuesday.

Pakistan’s only win in the tournament came against Bangladesh and were defeated by South Korea in the semi-final match 5-6. Pakistan also lost to India 3-1 in group stage match and it was the second defeat for Pakistan at the hands of its arch-rival in as many meetings in the event.

Earlier, India suffered defeat at the hands of Japan with a 3-5 scoreline in the semifinals the previous day after having topped the round-robin stages with an unbeaten record.

India took the lead in the very first minute through vice-captain Harmanpreet Singh before Sumit (45th), Varun Kumar (53rd) and Akashdeep Singh (57th) struck a goal each.

Pakistan's goals were scored by Afraz (10th), Abdul Rana (33rd) and Ahmed Nadeem (57th).