Bhubaneswar: India outplayed reigning Asian Games champion Japan 7-2 to storm into the summit clash of the FIH Series Finals hockey tournament here yesterday, assuring themselves a place in the year end's Olympic qualifying event.

Ramandeep's fab return
Returning to the side after a long injury lay-off, Ramadeep Singh (23rd, 37th minutes) finally got his mojo back with a double strike, while Harmanpreet Singh (7th), Varun Kumar (14th), Hardik Singh (25th), Gursahibjit Singh (43rd) and Vivek Sagar Prasad (47) also registered their name on the scoresheet. Japan's goals were scored by Kenji Kitazato (2nd) and Kota Watanabe (20th).