Pakistan’s produced a stirring second-half fightback only to fall agonisingly short, losing 4-3 to arch-rivals India in a dramatic Asian Games hockey semi-final at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium on Thursday.

The Green Shirts, who finished second in Pool ‘B’ after a solitary defeat to Malaysia, recovered from a three-goal deficit to level the scores, but a deflected strike from Abhishek with under a minute remaining ended their gold-medal hopes. Pakistan will now contest the bronze-medal match on Saturday, while defending champions India advance to the final and remain on course for a direct berth at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, which is awarded to the Asian Games gold medallists.

India, who topped Pool ‘A’ undefeated with an extraordinary goal difference, struck early through captain Harmanpreet Singh. The drag-flick specialist converted penalty corners in the fifth minute and 13th minute to give his side a 2-0 cushion at the first break.

Sukhjeet Singh then extended the lead to 3-0 in the 23rd minute with a field goal after a well-worked move involving Manpreet Singh and Shilanand Lakra.

Pakistan responded just before half-time when captain Abu Bakar Mahmood converted a penalty corner in the 30th minute to make it 3-1.

The third quarter saw Ammad Butt receive a yellow card in the 38th minute. Pakistan continued to press and reduced the deficit further when Abdul Hannan Shahid scored in the 45th minute, capitalising on defensive lapses. Dilpreet Singh was shown a green card around the same period.

Early in the final quarter, Rana Waheed Ashraf levelled the scores at 3-3 in the 49th minute, sparking hopes of a famous comeback or at least a penalty shootout.

With the match finely balanced, Abhishek found space on the right of the circle and his effort took a deflection to beat Pakistan goalkeeper Muneeb-ur-Rehman Raza with less than a minute left on the clock.

The result extended India’s unbeaten run against Pakistan to 21 matches.

Pakistan had shown strong form in the group stage, scoring freely against Thailand, Uzbekistan, China and Oman, and their resilience against a dominant Indian side offered encouragement despite the heartbreak.

India will face the winner of the second semi-final between Malaysia and South Korea in Saturday’s gold-medal match. Pakistan’s bronze-medal fixture will also take place on the same day as they seek to salvage a podium finish at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.