The Hindu : Sport : Korean blitzkrieg leaves Indians gasping

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 01, 2005

Sport

Sport

Korean blitzkrieg leaves Indians gasping

S. Thyagarajan

Australia draws with Pakistan as the title fight hots up amongst three teams

Kuala Lumpur: Overwhelmed by the power and precise movements, India went down to Korea 1-4 in the Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament here. The second half blitz by the Koreans, who shared two goals at half time, laid India flat.

Let down again by an innocuous attack where none deserved any notice for his competence, the only hope left for the Indians was the performance of the defence. Admittedly, the defenders did a creditable job holding the incisive Koreans almost throughout the first half, but the pressure, beyond a stage, was too much to smother. India conceded three goals in this half, all coming in a span of five minutes.

Exemplary work in the defence was not enough to keep the pacy Koreans under check. India survived torrid moments in the first quarter and warding off no less than five penalty corners. While Dilip Tirkey, Aiyappa and Jaswinder were firm enough, goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan was in good form, showing anticipation and athleticism. Not all the pressure exerted by Jong Ho Seo and Kyung Seok Kim could break the defensive phalanx headed by Ignace Tirkey on the left, Bimal Lakra in the mid-field and Devinder on the right.

Indians struggle

The front line showed no signs of harmony or combined thrust. Sandeep Michael continued to struggle to keep the ball in possession. Deepak made a few runs as did Prabhjot. It was Rajpal's quick surge that brought India the first penalty corner that Len Aiyappa converted amidst spontaneous cheers.

The Koreans enhanced the pace and desperate tackle by Devesh Chauhan against Jong Ho resulted in a stroke. Kyung Seok Kim failed, pushing the ball into the upright. But Korea found the equaliser before half-time when Kyung Seok Kim flashed the rebound to the roof of the net after Devesh had stopped a shot from Jong. The teams were level at 1-1 at the break.

For a few moments on resumption it looked as though the Indians would manage some space for them. Deepak Thakur and Rajpal Singh fumbled in the early minutes even as the Koreans took charge. Seong Jung Kang slotted the lead and minutes later Seong converted a penalty corner. With spirits soaring the Koreans struck again when Hyo Sik You made capital of a defence lapse for the fourth goal.

India remains at four points and Korea seven with two matches remaining. At the moment, the title fight has narrowed down to three teams, Pakistan, Australia and Korea.

Australia holds Pakistan

The defending and Olympic champion, recovered twice to force a 2-2 draw against Pakistan.

A tight mid-field combined with pleasing stick work underlined the competence of Pakistan. What added to the fervour was the opening goal that Shakeel Abbasi struck after accepting a measured centre from Rehan Bhat. The goal, as early as in the third minute, accentuated the pep in the Pakistani attack.

While Rehan Bhat and Shakeel Abbasi were conspicuous in their sallies, the mid-field, marshalled commendably by skipper Muhammad Saqlain along with Adnan Maqsood and Dilwar Hussain kept the Aussie frontline gaining any advantage even though Jaime Dwyer dribbled his way almost to the fringe of the goal-mouth.

The Australians were more methodic, worked out their patterns from the steady flow engineered by Rob Hammond, Brent Livermore and Luke Doerner. In the frontline Craig Victory and Travis Brooks impressed. The Aussies however had to wait till late in the first half for the equaliser from Luke Doerner.

Pakistan was unlucky not to score before half-time. A penalty corner drive by Mohammad Imran struck the cross-piece and bounced back. However, Mohammad Imran smashed in the first penalty corner after the break to hoist the lead.

With goal-keepers, Salman Akbar and Stephan Lambert in great form, scoring was not easy. There were a few handsome saves. Midway through Luke Doerner received an yellow card from umpire Javed Sheikh. But that did not deter the Aussies from pressing harder. When five minutes remained came the equaliser, Brent Livermore bemusing Akbar with a crafty push in a penalty corner. Australia has eight points from four matches, while Pakistan has 10 from the same number.

The results: Korea 4 (Kang Seong Jung (2), Kim Kyung Seuk, You Hyo Sik) bt India 1 (Len Aiyappa).

Australia 2 (Luke Doerner, Brent Livermore) drew with Pakistan 2 (Shakeel Abbasi, Mohammad Imran).

Wednesday's matches: Australia vs South Africa (1.35 p.m.); New Zealand vs Malaysia (3.35 p.m.); India vs Pakistan (5.35 p.m. IST).

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