Skipper Harmanpreet Singh continued his golden run of form that he has been carrying since Paris Olympics, converting two penalty corners to become the chief architect of India's narrow 2-1 victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in their final league match of the Hero Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) hockey tournament here on Saturday.

It was India's fifth consecutive win in the six-team round-robin competition.

Pakistan took the lead through Ahmad Nadeem (8th minute) before Harmanpreet (13th, 19th) converted two penalty corners to fashion India's victory. It was Pakistan's first loss in this tournament.

Both India and Pakistan have already qualified for the semi-finals. The victory also enabled India to maintain their supremacy over Pakistan since 2016.

In their previous meeting at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, India thrashed Pakistan 10-2. A few months before that, the Indians beat Pakistan 4-0 during the Chennai edition of the tournament.

At the Asia Cup in Jakarta (2022), a relatively young Indian side held Pakistan to a 1-1 draw while at the 2021 ACT in Dhaka, India defeated Pakistan 4-3 to clinch the bronze medal.

In other matches of the day, Malaysia and Korea played out a 3-3 draw, while hosts China beat Japan 2-0.

Paris Olympic bronze medallist and clear favourites, India will take on Korea in the semifinal, while Pakistan will face China.