Men in Blue down hosts 1-0 in semis; Pak win on penalties against Malaysia to set up epic clash tomorrow
It wasn’t a fluent performance but Indian men’s hockey team beat hosts South Korea at the Seonhak Hockey Stadium here on Tuesday to set up the Final clash of the 17th Asian Games with arch rivals Pakistan, who beat Malaysia on penalties in the other semifinal.
It was Akashdeep Singh who scored the lone goal of India’s match in the 13th minute of the third quarter to give a crucial 1-0 lead that the Sardar Singh led side managed to protect till the referee blew the final whistle. It was a big win for India since they entered their first Asian Games final in 12 years.
The Indian’s were an improved lot in comparison to the game against Pakistan last week when they lost 1-2. However, against South Korea, the combination among players looked good and counter-attacking was co-ordinated. Though the ball collection and finishing still needed a lot of improvement, the win against a tough opponent in their backyard would certainly give a lot of confidence going into the Final.
The general standard of the Koreans on Tuesday was unexpectedly below par with their status and rankings. Without doubt, they were quick but their collection, passing and finishing were poor. They defended well throughout the match and made it very difficult for the Indian forwards to raid their ‘D’.
India also missed a couple of easy chances that came their way. As early as fifth minute of the game, Dharamvir Singh got a chance to slot ball home from a very close distance. There was nobody to stop him as Ramandeep Singh dodged the goalkeeper and passed the ball to Dharamvir but he couldn’t stop the ball.
For the first two quarters, both the sides kept attacking and counter-attacking without any success. Indian defence was particularly good on Tuesday as they didn’t concede any penalty corner till the dying moments of the game. In turn, India got two penalty corners in the second half but they couldn’t convert any.
“It was a tough match against Korea. We expected it to be so. It was a close match. Within that close intensity of the final, I thought we made some chances that weren’t taken against the team which didn’t concede a single corner in the whole tournament,” India’s chief coach Terry Walsh said.
Third quarter proved to be very productive for India. The Indian’s attacked relentlessly from both left and right flanks. They finally got successful just two minutes (13th minute) before the quarter was about to end. Nikkin Thimmaiah made a good pass to Akashdeep, who was standing right in front of the goalkeeper with just one defender to beat, inside the ‘D’.
Showing good presence of the mind, Akashdeep flicked the ball backwards through his legs which the goalkeeper couldn’t judge and the ball hit the back of the net.
Walsh was happy to be in the final but wasn’t satisfied with the overall level of the game as he felt Indian players need to improve a lot in some of the areas.
“The level of the game today was good quality level from the point of view of pressure. It was really good international level of pressure. The quality of the ball handling, I still don’t think it was what we need to have to be successful at the highest level. And the quality of our finishing and taking opportunities is still not where it needs to be. So, I am pleased but I am not comfortable with where we are.
“With reference to the result, you can’t ask more than a win,” Walsh said.
The midfield, with captain Sardar Singh marshalling the resources, also gave the extra edge to the attack with some excellent passes but the frontline was again guilty of squandering a few very good chances.
India should have been at least two goals up before the halfway stage of the match but Dharamvir Singh was guilty of frittering away the opportunities.
In another semifinal, Pakistan eked out a hard-fought 6-5 win over 2010 Guangzhou Games silver medalist Malaysia in the second semifinal via shoot-off after both the teams failed to break the deadlock in the regulation 60 minutes. The title clash against Pakistan will also provide India an opportunity to avenge upon their 1-2 defeat against the same opponents in the pool stages of the ongoing Games.
In the women’s section, the Indian women’s squad is all set to take on Japan on Wednesday for the third/fourth place play-off to be played at Soenhak Hockey Stadium. The Indian eves will play to take revenge for the ill-fated defeat 2010 Games defeat to Japan.