Ipoh: Indian hockey team managed to pull off a stunning victory against defending champions South Korea by 2-0 in a Pool-B match of Asia Cup 2013 here on Monday. With this magical win India have also qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament where they will meet the second-ranker of Pool A, which will be decided on Tuesday.
India is still left with their one league match in which they will be playing against Bangladesh who were thrashed by South Korea in their opening game on Sunday. India's arch-rivals Pakistan have already made it to the semis after they crushed hosts Malaysia by 4-1 on Sunday.
The Indians put up an inspired performance and scored a goal in each half through V R Raghunath (6th minute) and Mandeep Singh (65th) to pick up their second win in the eight-nation event. But the credit for this win goes to the goal-keeper, P R Sreejesh, who displayed some brilliant presence of mind and despite the pressure build-up by the Korean attackers, kept his cool beneath the bar.
The Koreans though were quite dynamic in their movements, Indian team somehow managed not to concede a goal in this electrifying contest.
Indian team started off well as V R Raghunath made the most of the penalty corner that India got in the 6th minute of the match and gave India a lead of 1-0 over Korea. His powerful low drag flick was just too hot to handle for goalkeeper Lee Myung Ho.
India’s ball possession on the first half was quite good, which also kept the Koreans strikers away from converting any of their half-chances. India lead the game from the 6th minute of the match as they were using both the flanks quite wisely.
The Koreans did try to turn the tables but all their counter-attacks went in vain. Indians were using both the flanks quite wisely. To it Sreejesh was in top form as he saved six-seven goals with his brilliant instincts. He was also even awarded the man-of-the-match for his match-saving performance.
The Koreans got three penalty corners in the last three minutes of the first half but unfortunately couldn’t convert even one. In first half, they got as many five penalty corners.
Even after the half-time, the Koreans dominated the game as they didn’t allow the Indian players to hold the ball for too long. This turned out to be a nightmare for Indian defence as their opposition kept on raiding their half. Sreejesh made a brilliant save in the 51st minute as he dived to deny Kang Moon Kweon a goal.
As the match progressed, the Koreans ran out of stem but still created few chances in the last 10 minutes which went in vain. In last five minutes, Mandeep Singh doubled the lead for India which was good enough to seal the fate of the match.
India will play Bangladesh in their last pool match on Wednesday while Korea will be up against Oman.
India, who need to win the tournament to qualify for next year's World Cup at The Hague, Netherlands, had thumped minnows Oman 8-0 in their tournament opener.