By IANS
Boom (Belgium) : Aware that they were out of the race for a place in the finals, India beat Japan 4-3 in a league match of the Champions Challenge hockey tournament here Saturday.
India will now play England for the bronze medal Sunday, after they beat Belgium in the last league match.
Prabodh Tirkey's side was ousted from the contention when toppers New Zealand and Argentina played out a 3-3 draw and ensured their places in Sunday's title clash.
India were praying for a New Zealand win that would have given them a chance to qualify for the final with a big win over the bottom-placed Japan.
It did not happen and India finished with six points, behind New Zealand (11 points) and Argentina (10).
India's road to the finals of the six-nation tournament became bumpy when they were beaten 1-2 by Argentina in a scrappy encounter Thursday.
In Saturday's match, Sandeep Singh (7th minute), Prabhjot Singh (21st and 34th), and Dilip Tirkey (48th) scored the goals for India and Kenichi Katayama (12th), Takahiko Yamabori (46th) and Ryuji Furusato (65th).
Sandeep opened the scoring when his cracking flick off a penalty corner left the Japanese defence clueless and the ball entered the goal. The umpires awarded the short corner after the Indians, who entered the Japanese 'D' for the first time, after Mitsuru Ito's attempt to clear the ball hit the foot of a teammate.
Katayama equalised for Japan through a field goal, following a long corner, five minutes later.
In the 21st minute, Prabhjot put India ahead again via a penalty corner. Sandeep's initial shot is saved by goalkeeper Shunsuke Nagaoka, but Prabhjot put the ball in the goal on the rebound.
Prabhjot scored his second successive goal to give India a 3-1 advantage in the 34th minute. After receiving a long pass on the left side of the 'D' he sent a stinging hit to the far side of the goal.
Yamabori converted a penalty corner with a flick in the 46th minute to give Japan some hope.
But two minutes later, former skipper Dilip Tirkey converted a short corner with a perfectly placed hit to again give India a two-goal advantage, 4-2.
In the 65th minute, Furusato scored a field goal after receiving a long pass across the 'circle'.
In the New Zealand-Argentina match earlier Saturday, Phillip Burrows gave the Kiwis a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute and Lucas Vila equalised in the 16th minute.
Juan Garreta put Argentina ahead 2-1 in the 27th minute. In the 46th minute, Hayden Shaw brought New Zealand at par again, 2-2.
Vila then put Argentina in the lead, 3-2, with his 68th minute strike off a penalty corner. Shaw then scored the most important goal for the Kiwis in the 70th minute.