| Chak De India
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Chennai
September 9, 2007
India 7 South Korea 2
By Sundeep Misra
Pure Devastation probably sums up what India inflicted on South Korea in today’s Asia Cup final. Even the most optimist Indian or a Korean fan would never have visualized a 7-2 score line.
It was in the spirit of things that the Korean coach Myung Jun Cho didn’t dwell on the umpiring as the Koreans had protested and for almost six minutes in the second half, they had walked off. “The team was suffering from diarrhea and they have been suffering from the day we arrived. But credit should go to the Indians as today they were unbeatable.”
Joaquim Carvalho, the Indian coach, said, “It’s part of the build-up to the Olympics and the aim is to qualify for Beijing. Yes, the team played well and we are very proud of that.”
India went on the rampage in the 4th minute itself. Prabhjot Singh streaked in from the left and gave it to Shivender who flicked it in for India to go into the lead.
South Korea built up their attack and used the left flank effectively. A run saw the Koreans enter the striking circle and earn a penalty stroke. Jang Jong Hyun converted with a powerful flick.
With the scores equalized, credit to the Indians that they didn’t relent in their offensive play. India had a penalty corner in the 11th minute but that led to a long corner. Dilip Tirkey’s hard hit was deflected in a flash by Sunil as India gained a 2-1 lead. Sardara got a yellow card in the 17th minute for a reckless tackle and it seemed that India would throw away the initiative. But the Indians held on till the 31st minute. Sardara was back on the field after a six minute suspension. Snatching the ball away from the Koreans in the midfield, he gave it to Tushar who saw the goalkeeper advancing and tucked the ball away to give it to Prabhjot who didn’t make a mistake to flick into an empty goal. India led 3-1.
It was at this moment that hell broke loose. India were in the Korean striking circle and in the melee that followed, a Korean pushed Prabhjot who retaliated by pushing him away. All hell almost broke loose as the Indians and Koreans suddenly started pushing each other.
Umpires Richard Attipoe from Ghana and China’s Chen Dekan rushed in to control the players. As the hooter had already gone, Richard had no option but to show the yellow card to Prabhjot Singh.
With India down to ten men again, Korea looked for opportunities and almost found it when a shot from the top of the circle found the goal. Korea celebrated as the umpire pointed to a no goal. Korea kept protesting as the Indians sent the ball up front to Sardara Singh who gave it to Rajpal. The Chandigarh boy sent a stunner into the Korean goal.
An angry Korean team walked off the pitch as the game was held up for almost seven minutes. Finally, after the tournament director had a few words with the Korean team, did they relent and start the match.
Three consecutive penalty corners came Korea’s way. But Baljit Singh was in top form as he dived and used his gloves to deflect off the pushes.
In the 53rd minute, Prabhjot Singh again raced down the left flank and gave it to Ignace Tirkey who pushed it past the goalkeeper for India to go up 5-1.
Prabhjot was again in the thick of action as he sent a cross to Rajpal who only had to tap it in for India to lead 6-1. The Indians seemed unstoppable. The Koreans had been completely rattled.
Prabhjot got his second goal of the match in the 64th minute. With only two minutes on the clock, Korea forced themselves into the Indian striking circle as Oh Dae Keun flicked home from an angle.
But by then it was already too late. As the hooter went, the stadium erupted as the fans celebrated a fantastic win for the Indian hockey team.
The last time India had beaten Korea so convincingly was in the 1985 Asia Cup in Dhaka when they had won 8-1.
Score Sheet:
Shivendra Singh (4th, FG) 1-0
Jang Jong Hyun (9th, PS) 1-1
SV Sunil (13th, FG) 2-1
Prabhjot Singh (31st, FG) 3-1
Rajpal Singh (42nd, FG) 4-1
Ignace Tirkey (53rd, FG) 5-1
Rajpal Singh (55th, FG) 6-1
Prabhjot Singh (64th, FG) 7-1
Oh Dae Keun )68th, 7-2
Archive : Terrific India march into final
Confident India take on Japan
Japan enter semis, meet India
Million Dollar Players!
India Enter Semis
Yamabori scores 6
Goal Fest!
Indian hockey’s Jason Bourne?
Relief! India secure opening win
Asia Cup — a peep into the past
| Schedule |
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Final Standings :
1. India
2. S Korea
3. Malaysia
4. Japan
5. China
6. Pakistan
7. Bangladesh
8. Hong Kong
9. Sri Lanka
10. Singapore
11. Thailand
Sunday's Matches  |
|||||||
| TEAM A | TEAM B | Playoff | TIME | RESULT | |||
| S Lanka | SPore | 9/10 | 08:00 | 6-0 | |||
| Ban | HKG | 7/8 | 07:00 | 3-1 | |||
| China | Pak | 5/6 | 09:30 | 3-2 | |||
| Malaysia | Japan | 3/4 | 16:00 | 5-3 | |||
| India | S Korea | 1/2 | 18:30 | 7-2 | |||
|
Saturday's Matches |
|||||||
| TEAM A | v | TEAM B | TIME | RESULT | |||
| Singapore | v | Thailand | 08:00 | 4-0 | |||
| Pak | v | Ban | 07:00 | 10-0 | |||
| China | v | HongKong | 09:30 | 6-1 | |||
| S Korea | v | Malaysia | 17:00 | 2-1 | |||
| India | v | Japan | 19:30 | 4-1 | |||
|
SCORE TABLE |
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| POOL A | |||||||
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | PTS |
| Malaysia SF | 4 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 4 | 10 | |
| Japan SF | 4 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 4 | 9 | |
| Pakistan | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 7 | 7 |
| Hong Kong | 4 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 28 | 3 | |
| Singapore | 4 | 4 | 2 | 27 | 0 | ||
| POOL B | |||||||
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | PTS |
| India SF | 5 | 5 | 46 | 2 | 15 | ||
| S Korea SF | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 41 | 8 | 10 |
| China | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 32 | 6 | 10 |
| Bangladesh | 5 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 22 | 6 | |
| Sri Lanka | 5 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 46 | 3 | |
| Thailand | 5 | 5 | 1 | 67 | 0 | ||
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 A team should be ready to play anyone. Of course, more |
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