As India skipper Harmanpreet Singh knelt down to kiss the blue turf of the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Stadium.
Manpreet Singh and PR Sreejesh - the only two members of the gold medal-winning team at Incheon 2014 in the current squad rushed to hug each other. Even the poker-faced chief coach Craig Fulton couldn't help by grin ear-to-ear.
The scenes indicated just one thing the Indian men's hockey team had hammered Japan 5-1 in the final to clinch the Asian Games gold on Friday. This is only the fourth time that India have won the top prize at the continental showpiece after Bangkok 1966, Bangkok 1998 and Incheon 2014.
The gold also meant that the Harmanpreet-led squad had earned the all-important ticket for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The circle that commenced in late April when chief coach Fulton joined the setup following the departure of Graham Reid is complete with the South African realising his first target on Friday by becoming the No.1 team in Asia.
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