Captain Surinder Kaur scored the lone goal as India defeated defending champions Japan 1-0 in a practice match ahead of the seventh women’s Asia Cup hockey tournament in Bangkok. India have been placed in Group A along with formidable China, Malaysia, Singapore and hosts Thailand.

The Indians will open their Asia Cup campaign against a lowly Singapore at the Queen Sikrit University Sports Centre here on October 30 and coach MK Kaushik has made his intentions clear when he said that he would like to win the match by a big margin.

“Since China is a strong contender, a good goal aggregate will help us to choose the semifinal rivals,” said Kaushik, who guided India to gold at the 2004 edition of the event.