Hockey Asia Cup | Korea force India to go Dutch

Rajgir: A breezy evening here in Rajgir soon turned into a night of lightning, thunder and heavy rain delaying the start of India’s first Super 4s encounter against Korea at the Asia Cup on Wednesday. 

On the new turf at the Bihar Sports University Hockey Stadium, it was the ball patrol kids, equipped with squeegees, who were put to work to clear waterlogged patches so the players could take to the field in what turned out to be a slug fest.

In the end, the top-ranked India, trailing for the larger part of the game, were forced to spend every ounce in their reserves to hold Korea to a 2-2 draw. 

Realising the weather had added an extra challenge, coach Craig Fulton was seen giving specific instructions to his men after making a good inspection of the damp outfield. Every tiny detail, after all, was going to make a huge difference.

When the game kicked off, the slippery on-field conditions posed the toughest challenge for each of the 20 running players. The ball slid and bounced unevenly, making everything from holding stance to dribbling, trapping or even passing the ball tricky. 

However, it was India who got a grip of the conditions first. A sprinting Hardik Singh, after receiving the ball from Sukhjeet Singh, held, carried and pushed it into the goal post to put India ahead in the eighth minute. However, Korea wasted little time to play catch-up.  

An intentional push from India saw the World No. 15 Korean being awarded a penalty stroke which Jihun Yang confidently slammed it to equalise in the 12th minute. Soon, the visitors made no mistake in converting their first penalty corner in the 14th minute to take a 2-1 lead. This time it was Kim Hyeonhong who put his name on the scoresheet. 

Trailing 1-2 at the end of 30 minutes, the high-intensity, physical and noisy contest went a notch higher in the second half. With the Koreans upping their defence and India fumbling inside the ‘D’ made for a frustrating third quarter for the hosts. 

If Manpreet Singh’s ball was missed by Sukhjeet, Abhishek’s hit was off target before Manpreet failed to deflect Abhishek’s pass. Harmanpreet’s flick was blocked and saved. 

Though the momentum favoured India, more field goal chances squandered at the start of the fourth quarter left them hanging. A final touch deserting the team at multiple occasions.

Until the ‘common bhaiyya, ek goal mariyee..,’ screams by young hockey volunteers from the stands were answered by the Indian men when a Sukhjeet’s pass was finally tapped in by Mandeep in the 52nd minute to make it 2-2. 

And with that the damp evening would only end with a draw and much thinking to do before India take on a dangerous-looking Malaysia on Thursday. 

Malaysia win 2-0

Malaysia, the tournament's second highest-ranked team, endured some nervous moments to eventually scrape through 2-0 against a charged-up China. 

After a goalless first half, Syed Cholan scored the World No. 12 side's opening goal in the 45th minute through the only penalty corner in the entire match.

Malaysia heaved a sigh of relief when the tournament's top goal-scorer Akhimullah Anuar added a second in the 47th minute that was enough to keep the Chinese challenge at bay until the final hooter. 

Results: India: 2 (Hardik Singh 8th, Mandeep Singh 52nd) drew with Korea: 2 (Jihun Yang 12th, Kim Hyeonhong 14th); Malaysia: 2 (Syed Cholan 45th, Akhimullah Anuar 47th) bt China: 0; Japan: 2 (Ryosuke Shinohara 5th, 11th) bt Chinese Taipei: 0.