Korea triumphs in nerve-wracking final

KUALA LUMPUR, MAY 14. Amidst nerve-wracking tension and high drama India went down 2-3 to Korea in the junior men's Asia Cup hockey tournament final here on Sunday. Two goals in as many minutes late in the game by Jung Seong-Tae and Jeon Hong-Kwon shattered Indian hopes of winning the cup for the first time.

It was a case of so near yet so for India which took the lead but failed to hold on to it. It also squandered a stroke and several opportunities to let slip the trophy out its hands.

It was stout hearted Bimal Lakra who scored both the goals off strokes but his other colleges muffed up chances that came their way.

At half time the teams were level 1-1. India started with a bang and was awarded a stroke in the 20th minute but Arjun Halappa failed to beat goalkeeper Lee Myung-ho. The Korean custodian dived to his right to superbly foil Arjun's attempt.

Nine minutes later India earned another stroke and this time Bimal Lakra kept his cool and nerves to convert it and go 1-0 up.

Stung by this reverse, the Koreans hit back with incisive counter attacks and Indian defence came under severe pressure. India could hold on to its lead only for five minutes as Lee Jung-Seon made a solo effort but was fouled in the circle, leading to a penalty corner. Jung-Seon made no mistake in converting the penalty corner as he beat goalkeeper Devesh Chuhan all ends up (1-1).

In the second session too India was in the attack mode but could not score because of the stout Korean defence and poor finishing. Bipin Fernandez and Arjun held sway at the half line and initiated some good moves.

Even as it looked that the match may go into extra time the Koreans suddenly struck leaving the Indian defenders dazed and bemused. With the Indians concentrating on attack the nippy Koreans demolished their rivals' defence twice which leaving the pre-tournament favourite rattled and shattered.

Five minutes before the final whistle the Indian defence was rendered helpless as Seong-Tae's shot from the top of the circle flew in and two minutes later Hong-Kwon had the simple task of shooting home from close range.

Stunned by the sudden reverse, India pushed hard but only managed to reduce the lead through a stroke conversion by Bimal Lakra but it was too little too late.

Bronze for Malaysia

In the meanwhile, Suhaimi Ibrahim's late strike helped host Malaysia pip Japan 2-1 to claim the bronze medal. The victory enabled Malaysia, which had beaten Pakistan in the pool matches, to book a ticket for the junior World Cup to be held in Hobart, Australia next year.

It will be suspense time for Japan now as it awaits information from the International Hockey Federation (FIH) if it can make it to the world tournament.

This is because the FIH has allocated only three slots to Asia but with the junior World Cup having 16 teams next year instead of 12, the continent has urged the world body to increase its quota to four.

Malaysia started without Chua Boon Huat but the defensive Japanese, who had entered the field with an intention to drag the match to the penalty shoot-out stage, forced it to bring him in after 21 minutes of play.

After frustrating all attempts of the host, Japan make some forays into the rival defence. It created some good moves in the first half but its forwards missed two scoring chances.

The first strike, a field goal, for Malaysia came in the 31st minute. The scorer was Norazlan Rahim. Suhaimi could have made it 2-0 just before the lemon break but his shot was off target.

In the second half the Japanese counter attacks nearly paid off. They had three scoring chances but all went abegging.

Malaysia consolidated the lead in the 61st minute when Suhaimi dived to deflect Boon Huat's freehit into the goal. Two goals down and with just 14 minutes to go Japan tried hard to salvage the situation. A minute later Yasuhiro Kikkawa's shot from the top of the striking circle found the target.

With the lead reduced Japan made some more attempts but the Malaysian defence denied it the equaliser.

- UNI

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