Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored a brace as India defeated Japan 3-2 to make it two wins in a row in the men's Asia Cup hockey tournament at Rajgir in Bihar on Sunday.

Harmanpreet scored in the 5th and 46th minutes after Mandeep Singh opened the scoring for India in the 4th minute. Kosei Kawabe scored in the 38th and 59th minutes for Japan.

India began by defeating China 4-3 on Friday, with Harmanpreet scoring a hat-trick. India's final pool match is against Kazakhstan on Monday.

The winner of the Asia Cup will qualify for next year's World Cup, which will be hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands.

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The previous edition of the Asia Cup held in Jakarta was won by South Korea, with Malaysia finishing as runners-up and India claiming third place.

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