India beat South Korea after five years, in semis

Five years. That is how long the Indian men’s hockey team took to finally beat South Korea when the hosts overcame the defending champions 3-2 at the Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai on Monday. Their third victory in the tournament assured India of a semi-final berth.

In that period, the Harmanpreet Singh-led team beat world No.1 Netherlands, Olympic champions Belgium, No.3 England, world champions Germany and seven-time Commonwealth Games champions Australia. But world No.9 South Korea were a thorn in the flesh for India, always finding that extra bit when they faced India.

World No.4 India last beat the Asia Cup champions at the 2018 Asian Champions Trophy in Muscat before losing one and drawing three contests. The Craig Fulton-coached side ended that wait by earning a pivotal victory against a resurgent Korea, who were the undisputed kings of Asia from the late 1980s to 2000s.

While their form dwindled in the past decade, failing to qualify for the last two Olympics and the 2018 World Cup, Korea under coach Shin Seok Kyo, who was part of the team that won the 2000 Olympics silver and Asian Games gold in 1994 and 2002, has been helping revive their form. Korea won the 2021 Asian Champions Trophy in Dhaka and the 2022 Asia Cup in Jakarta and were the only team from the continent to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup in January.

In a contest between the top two ranked teams of the tournament, India came out on top 3-2 to retain the top spot in the six-team standings. Nilakanta Sharma (6th), Harmanpreet (23rd) and Player-of-the-Match Mandeep Singh (33rd) scored for India while Kim Sung-hyun (12th) and Yang Jihun (58th) were the scorers for Korea.

The hosts took off, pressing as a unit from the back, in keeping with Fulton’s ‘defend to win’ strategy. The idea worked as India started attacking from the outset with Sumit and Sukhjeet Singh using the right flank when the Korean midfield and defence was braced for attacks down the centre. Sukhjeet was brilliant as he single-handedly evaded the Korean defenders by switching sides to push the ball to Nilakanta, who hammered in India’s lead.

In a contest between two strong counterattacking sides, Kim Sung-hyun scored a soft goal. The Indian defence was dozing and the poor keeping by Krishan Bahadur Pathak -- he was playing his 100th international -- helped Korea equalise, silencing a packed Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium.

PR Sreejesh, who replaced Pathak in the second quarter, made a fantastic save to keep Korea from taking the lead. The hosts sustained the pressure with hard, fast slaps as India earned two back-to-back penalty corners (PC) which was missing in the first quarter. Ace drag-flicker Harmanpreet found another gear when the team needed to give India the lead with his fifth goal of the tournament.

India, who were much more in command and incisive, creating more aerial routes, found their third via Mandeep, who played a beautiful reverse sweep to give India a two-goal cushion. But Korea were not going to sit quietly. The skilful players used unique tricks, lobs and aerial balls to earn two PCs in the third quarter.

First rusher Amit Rohidas came to India’s rescue both times, putting his body on the line to maintain his team’s command in the contest. Former skipper Manpreet Singh was also brilliant as he displayed impeccable skills, especially to intercept a superb ball that Mandeep failed to collect and could have been India’s fourth.

Nilakanta gave India a fantastic chance early in the final quarter, creating a PC which then resulted in a penalty stroke. Harmanpreet pushed weakly and goalkeeper Kim Jae-hyeon made a fantastic save diving to his right.

While it looked like Korea had lost their sting in the third quarter, they bounced back in the last quarter desperate for goals. Perhaps it was nerves but India became shaky in defence. While Kim was resolute in the goal, the midfield and forwardline worked in tandem to create as many as nine penalty corners in the final 15 minutes.

After saving eight PCs, India failed to save the last one as Yang Jihun converted two minutes from the final hooter to reduce India’s cushion to one goal. But that was the final attack from Korea as India held on to register victory.

Earlier in the day, Malaysia rebounded from their 0-5 hammering by India on Sunday to beat reigning Asian Games champions Japan 3-1. Najmi Jazlan (13th), Azuan Hasan (37th) and Shello Silverius (59th) scored for the winners while Japan’s goal came via Takuma Niwa (59th).

Pakistan earned their first win of the six-team tournament when they beat world No.25 China 2-1. Muhammad Khan (20th) and Afraz (39th) scored for the three-time champions while Gao Jiesheng (33rd) scored China’s lone goal.