Indian defender Surender Kumar will not play any role in the ongoing fourth Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament after being suspended for two matches following a deliberate foul during the game against Malaysia.
Asian Hockey Federation's Technical Delegate Ramesh Appoo on Thursday conducted a disciplinary hearing under the Code of Conduct and found Surender guilty of a serious foul, warranting suspension for two matches.
The Indian defender, whose good performance in the Champions Trophy earned him a place in the squad for the Olympic Games, will have to sit out of the knockout round, starting with the semifinal on Saturday.
"Surender was shown a yellow card by the umpire for an off-the-ball incident in which Surender lifted his stick in an appropriate manner, thereby causing his stick to hit the chin of a Malaysian player," Appoo said in a statement.
"Having considered the evidence before me, including the explanation given by Surender, I have imposed a two-match suspension," the Technical Delegate said.
Surender was sent off in the 49th minute of India's last league match, which they won 2-1 to take the top spot in the round-robin league and now await the last couple of preliminary matches before knowing who they play in the semifinal.
After Surender got the yellow card, India had to play the rest of the match with 10 players but managed to ward off Malaysia's rapid attacks. India managed to get a late match-winner off a penalty corner from Rupinder Pal Singh with just two minutes left.
A one-match suspension was also imposed on Malaysian player Ashari Firhan.
"Team India handed me a video in which Ashari was seen making a deliberate physical contact by extending his elbow into the body of Indian player Akashdeep Singh in an off-the-ball incident," Appoo said.
"I have imposed a one-match suspension on Ashari," he said.
india to face korea
Top-ranked India will take on South Korea in the semifinals of the fourth Asian Champions Trophy after the Koreans conceded a late equaliser to Malaysia and finished fourth in the round-robin league standings here on Thursday.
India had topped the league standings with 13 points after finishing their preliminary fixtures on Wednesday, but there was plenty of drama on the last day of the league fixtures.
Pakistan defeated China 4-0 to take their points tally to nine, the same as Malaysia before the last outing against the Koreans, who had seven points ahead of the last match. Pakistan's goal-difference was far inferior to that of hosts Malaysia, so a tie on points would put Malaysia ahead.
Malaysia needed a victory or a draw to take the second spot in the group, but a victory in the last outing would have lifted the Koreans to the second place in the standings, pushing Malaysia down to the third spot and Pakistan to the fourth.