NEW DELHI: India men’s hockey team defeated arch-rivals Pakistan 4-3 in a thrilling semifinal at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium on Thursday to enter the gold medal match at the Asian Games.The victory sends India into the hockey gold medal match, while Pakistan will play for the bronze medal.India will take on the winner of the second semifinal between Malaysia and Korea.India took control early and went into the first break with a 2-0 lead. Harmanpreet Singh opened the scoring from a penalty corner in the 13th minute before doubling India’s advantage with another penalty-corner goal in the 23rd minute.Pakistan pulled one back through Abu Mahmood in the 30th minute, but India restored their two-goal cushion before half-time.Pakistan refused to give up and produced a strong fightback in the second half. Ammad Butt scored in the 38th minute to make it 2-2 before India regained the lead through Sukhjeet Singh in the 43rd minute.Hannan Shahid then made it 3-3 in the 49th minute, setting up a tense finish.India, however, held their nerve in the closing stages, with Dilpreet Singh scoring in the 60th minute to put India back in front and seal the victory.The match remained tense until the final hooter, with both teams earning seven penalty corners each.India had 54 per cent possession compared to Pakistan’s 46 per cent. Both teams made two video referrals, while India received one green card and Pakistan were shown one yellow card.