It happened recently. Two unexpected teams clashed in the FIFA World Cup. And in our own sport, Rio Olympics saw two new nations fighting out for the honours. Now its the turn of Asian hockey. Surpassing every predictions, and surprising all those assembled at the Gelora stands, Malaysia and Japan made it to the top. The two ‘West’ Asian nations will deservedly play for gold tomorrow.

Its first occasion in the 60-year history of the continental hockey, neither will Pakistan or Japan be there in the final. This is epochal development for Japan and Malaysia.

Malaysia and Japan earned the honours hard way. They faced the high-scoring and all-win record holders, and the way they knocked both India and Pakistan will be remembered for long. Malaysia played a disciplined hockey depending on good defence and counter attacks. India kept their worst for the day, fumbled with passes, messed up penalty corners, and panicked easily in the dying moments of the game.

Japan, host of the coming Olympics has done exactly what South Korea had done on the eve of them hosting the 1988 Olympics. At Seoul Asian Games, Korea defeated Pakistan in the final.

China men too surprised India in the Asian Games in the pool stage two years before they hosted their own Olympics.

Hosting events like Olympics perhas help these teams get enough funds, which gather best coaching talent to train their team, support their players and make earnest preparations.

Japan’s rise is not surprising considering the kind of tours they have undertaken, and the kind of result they produced. New coach Siegfriedn Aikman and his team showed vast improvement not year after year, but month after month. Have not they defeated same Pakistan at the final of the Muscat 3-Nation? Or, the defet they handed out to New Zealand a couple of months ago is storm in the tea cup? Not at all. Japanese boys have shown enough gumption in showing the former giant Pakistan that they are former giants only.

Japan scored an early goal within five minutes of the game, and protected it to the end.

For India, like in the case of Pakistan, the first quarter game had done them in Their strength is penalty corner executions. But it did not work in the first quarter. Six penalty corner were wasted in this session too. This added to the pressure from which they could not recover.

India played a error-prone game. Repeat views can vouchsafe number of times how A Rupinder Pal or midfielders’ passes were misdirected, giving away to Malaysian interceptions.

Indians seem to have misplaced mind set of being champions even before they became one. This complex, most unwanted in sports fields, let to their grave.

From the holistic point of view, emergence of Japan as the leading force, is a welcome development for the Asian hockey in particular, world hockey in general.

That Japan will be playing, like Koreas of 90s, both men’s and women’s final is icing on the cake.

Its first Korea that broke the monopoly of India-Pak in the Asian Games hockey. Short of funds, Korea suffers nowadays. With flush of funds, Japan makes every effort to its rightful claim to top.

Its a sort of nugget that the team that loses to India in the pool goes on to win the top honours. Argentina lost to India at Rio before climbing top. On this logic, is it Japan’s day of destiny?