JOIN USIndia get off to a nightmarish start
The Koreans were merciless and sustained their early momentum to virtually seal the issue by half-time leading 56-21.
The Korean sharpshooters were spot-on from the start and they also excelled in their rebound collections to leave the Indians a frustrated lot.
The heavy loss notwithstanding, coach JB Singh still believed that the Indians had a good chance of finishing in the top three and thus qualify for the 2010 World Cup.
“We are not going to give up our ambition of finishing in the top three just because we lost to Korea today,” he said.
Despite his bravado, the fact remained that the Indians were outclassed in every department of the game. Skipper Geetu Anna Jose, who led from the front for the host team, did strike a good combination with Anitha Pauldurai, but then, the Koreans gave little away under their board.
At the other end, the Indian defence was literally torn to shreds by the swift Koreans among whom Yeon Ha Beon and Sun Min Jung, stood out with their pacy forays.
Worse was to follow for the Indians as Jose had to be benched after committing four fouls and with her absence, the home team’s hopes further ebbed.
Korea pressed on and one of the features of their play was the three-pointers by Beon and Kwe Ryong Kim that sunk the Indian hearts.
Earlier, in Level 1 matches, the Philippines overcame Malaysia 61-55 while Lebanon and Kazakhstan also started their campaigns on a winning note.
Results: Level I: South Korea 102 (Yeon Ha Beon 26, Sun Min Jung 20, Jung Eun Kim 14) beat India 46 (Geetu Anna Jose 15, Pratima Singh 12, Kiranjit Kaur 8). HT: 56-21.
Level II: Philippines 61 (Sylvia Marie Valencia 15) beat Malaysia 55 (Suik May Kew 14). HT: 33-30.; Lebanon 83 (Chasa Nasr 23, Chantelle Anderson 19, Nisirin Dandan 15) beat Uzbekistan 68 (Irina Poulinina 21). HT: 41-40; Kazakhstan 94 (Yelena Dots 13, Veronika Volikova 12, Tamara Seregina 11, Oxana Ivanova 10) beat Sri Lanka 40 (Premilla Beruwalage 13).