India whip South Korea to retain Asia Cup

by Manoj Vatsyayana

CHENNAI, India (AFP) - India gave a fine display of attacking field hockey to retain the Asia Cup with a crushing 7-2 victory over South Korea in an incident-filled final here.

Prabhjot Singh and Rajpal Singh each struck twice for the defending champions Sunday, while Ignace Tirkey, Shivender Singh and S. V. Sunil scored one goal apiece.

Jang Jong Hyun converted a penalty-stroke and Oh Dae Keun scored a field goal for 2006 Doha Asian Games champions South Korea in a match which also saw the players lose their cool.

Trouble started near the South Korean goal immediately after the first session was over, with rival players arguing and pushing each other. India led 3-1 at that stage.

Prabhjot was temporarily suspended for injuring South Korean Kim Chul, who was stretchered off the field.

South Korea then protested against an umpiring decision to disallow Hong Sung Kweon's goal in the second half.

Hardly had they settled down when Rajpal made it 4-1 for India with a firm drive from the top of the striking circle, resulting in a walkout by South Korea. The game was held up for nearly five minutes.

"We thought the decision was unfair. Our goal was disallowed and then India quickly scored one. That's why we walked out," said South Korean coach Cho Myung Jun.

"We have been missing a couple of players in each game due to fitness problems since the start of the tournament, but India performed well in the final."

The first half was entertaining, with both teams playing attacking hockey. Fortunes fluctuated as three goals came in the opening 13 minutes.

The hosts, who had struggled to down South Korea 3-2 in a league match, took the lead in the fourth minute when Shivender put the rebound in from close range after Prabhjot's shot had hit goalkeeper Ko Dong Sik's pads.

South Korea were quick to retaliate as Hyun made it 1-1 in the ninth minute by converting a penalty-stroke following an obstruction by Indian goalkeeper Baljit Singh.

India regained the lead when Sunil smartly deflected in a long-corner hit from Dilip Tirkey, much to the delight of a capacity holiday crowd.

Prabhjot strengthened India's position with a third goal when he connected with a Tushar Khandekar cross from the centre to beat the South Korean goalkeeper, who was out of position.

The second half belonged to India as Rajpal scored twice, followed by Ignace Tirkey and Prabhjot with one apiece. South Korea scored their second goal through Keun in the 68th minute.

"We played a tactical game and according to a plan. We did not allow them to create openings. We were aware they can fight back even after being 5-1 down, but the boys did not relax until the end," said Indian coach Joaquim Carvalho.

"South Korea's brief walkout also helped us as it upset their rhythm."

Malaysia beat Japan 5-3 to finish third, their best-ever performance in the tournament.

Three-time champions Pakistan were beaten 3-2 by China to finish sixth, their worst-ever display in this event.

Source - http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070910/wl_sthasia_afp/fhockeyasia_070910033213

Wow, congratulations to the team!

Well Done India!!!...Asia Cup Hockey champions.



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

hell yeah .............. we r the best ................

Now you have got Korean users on AF very mad !!!

Kim Il Jong is happy though.

I watched the 2nd half of this final match. Indian players were scoring goals at regular intervals and Korean players got direction less, they lost all hope. Now Olympic qualifiers are coming need to do good in that. I am hoping for a gold in the Olympics that matters the most, but Indians must watch out for the European teams and Aussies.

Skipping school again ?

Congrats to the side

Which channel did you watch this on? I live in the US, so maybe stations like ESPN don't give a rat's a$$ about ice hockey in Asia. Racist US TV stations!

I didn't even know India had a hockey team. I say this because it hardly snows in India. I know cricket is a damn popular sports amongst Indians.

^ The match was a Field Hockey game, not an Ice-Hockey game.

Yeah Indians are mostly into their cricket, they have some superstar cricketers...one being Sachin Tendulkar, one off the biggest name in Cricket, whos scored the most runs in Cricket.

Congrats.

India won in Field Hockey, not Ice Hockey.

Ice Hockey isn't too big in India, while Field hockey is India's national game, although cricket is more popular over there.

I watched that in Doordarshan the national tv channel of India. As everyone has already pointed out, it is field hockey.


India has a field hockey team, rather good one, but no ice hockey team. I don't think S. Korea have an ice hockey team either. Bro you are forgetting the Himalayan mountain range, it literally means the 'Abode of Snow' so its snows in India right. Yes Cricket is the most popular game in India.