India produced a spirited performance to beat Korea 4-1 in the penalty shoot-out after both the teams were locked at 2-2 at regulation time, to finish a creditable third in the 24th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament, here on Sunday.
The win is sure to act as a morale booster for the Indian team, which is witnessing a transition phase after new chief coach Paul van Ass took over from Terry Walsh barely a month ago. The third place finish also marks a relatively good beginning for Van Ass, who was in his maiden assignment with the Indian team.
For India, who had earlier drawn 1-1 with Korea in the league stages, the victory came on the back of a stunning 4-2 win over world champions and title holders Australia on Saturday at the Azlan Shah Stadium. India scored both their goals though field strikes from last match’s hat-trick man Nikkin Thimmaiah (10th minute) and Satbir Singh (22nd), while Korea scored from penalty corners converted by You Hyosik (20th) and Nam Hyunwoo (29th).
India’s vice-captain and goalkeeper P R Sreejesh had a fantastic day under the bar as he not only made numerous saves in the entire 60 minutes, but also turned out to be India’s hero in the shoot-out, denying two Korean efforts to help his side register the much-needed victory.
The Sardar Singh-led side failed to secure a single set piece but their backline as usual crumbled under pressure and gave away seven short corners. It was India who had the first shy at the goal in the sixth minute but Akashdeep Singh shot wide after a scramble inside the circle.
The Indians took the lead in the next minute through last match’s hero Nikkin. Dharamvir Singh started the move and passed the ball to SK Uthappa, who beat a few Malaysian defenders to enter the circle from the right flank and then neatly pushed the ball towards Nikkin and he made no mistake in slapping the ball home from close range. Five minutes into the second quarter Korea got their second penalty corner and You Hyosik scored from a rebound with a reverse shot after Jang Jonghyun’s drag flick was well saved by Sreejesh. After stealing the ball at the midline, Satbir played a delightful one two with Dharmvir Singh before tapping in the ball pass Korean keeper Hong Doo Pyo. It was nerve-wrecking final three minutes as Korea went all out in search of the winner, but the Indian defence did enough to hold the rampaging Koreans and take the match into shoot-out.
In the shoot-out, the Indians were clinical as Akashdeep Singh, Sardar Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh and Birendra lakra converted their tries with consummate ease.
‘we learned our lessons’
For Paul van Ass, the third-place finish in his maiden assignment as India’s new hockey coach was undoubtedly a creditable performance and said that he has managed to achieve his target in the tournament by learning “six beautiful lessons”.
Elaborating on the specifics, the Dutchman said, “We have to be careful that we do not go out of the tournament early and play for nothing that is one lesson we have learnt.
And the second lesson was to get the defence right under pressure and we succeeded partly in that.” Van Ass was full of praise for the way his players executed their attempts in the shoot-out but felt the match was not upto the mark.
“The shoot-out was very good. That was of high quality but I feel the match was not of very high quality.” But fortunately we hung in and I am glad that we could win in the shoot-out. I was very surprised with the quality of our shoot-out I must say,” said the Dutchman.