Deepika's brace floors Japan

Deepika converts two penalty corners in a 3-0 win for the round robin toppers; India to face Japan again in Tuesday's semi-final

- HT Correspondent

NEW DELHI: India are clear favourites to win the ongoing women's Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament, although their performances by itself show that they are very much in a re-building process after the dejection of missing out on Paris Olympics qualification.

Sunday provided evidence of all that as the hosts made a slow start before finding their fluidity into the third quarter to beat Japan 3-0, a fifth straight victory helping India top the round robin stage in the six-team tournament being played at the Bihar Sports University Hockey Stadium in Rajgir.

After Monday's rest day, India will again face the enterprising Japanese in the semi-finals, a team that is not short of running but one that appears far from capable of matching the continent's top sides. China, who are without most of the players who helped win the Olympic silver medal, upstaged Korea to finish second in the table. They will face Malaysia in the other semis.