Moqi (China): Defending Champions India remains unbeaten and maintained their winning streak in the Hero Asian Champions Trophy, defeating Korea 3-1 on Thursday at the Moqi Hockey Training Base.
Skipper Harmanpreet Singh (9’, 43’) scored a brace in India’s win, while Araijeet Singh Hundal (8’) gave an early lead in the team’s win.
Having already booked a place in the semifinals, India looked to continue their winning ways against Korea in their penultimate league-stage match. The defending champions showcased this intent very early in the game with a spectacular 8th-minute goal by Araijeet Singh Hundal. It was a fierce cross pass by Vivek Sagar Prasad that was picked up well by Hundal from the top of the circle to scoop it in. Skipper Harmanpreet Singh scored from a Penalty Corner (PC) in the following minute to extend India’s lead to 2-0. This was Harmanpreet’s 200th international goal.
Korea, who registered a fantastic 3-2 win against hosts China to climb up to second spot in the points table, would not let India have it easy. After shaking off the nerves in the first quarter, Korea bounced back with tactical defence, curbing Indian attackers from keeping the ball in possession. In the last seven minutes of the second quarter, they punished India with interjections and counterattacks, eventually setting up a PC in the 30th minute of the match. Jihun Yang, who had scored a goal in their win against China yesterday, came up with a fine PC execution to narrow India’s lead to 2-1.
The third quarter saw both India and Korea trade an equal number of PCs, with each earning four. However, only India could successfully put one in the net, with Harmanpreet coming up with a powerful drag flick to give his team a strong 3-1 lead. India played this quarter patiently and constructed a compact attack to stay ahead of a tactful Korea. Meanwhile, Krishan Pathak held sway at the goalpost to keep Korea from scoring.
The final quarter saw India do well. They dominated ball possession and resorted to half-pressing, which led to potential counter-attacks. Though Korea made ambitious attempts to score, Suraj Karkera did well in the goalpost to ensure India didn’t concede a goal. India will take on arch-nemesis Pakistan in their next encounter.
The Hero of the Match, Suraj Karkera of India, said, “Korea is no easy team to beat, but our mantra today was to defend well. In terms of pressure, there is none, as Coach has given us freedom to play our game. We have trained with Sreejesh over the years, and though it is a big shoes to fill in, we try to do our best.”
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–IANS
Photo Credit: Asian Hockey
