The Hindu : Sport : Confident India takes on Korea

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Monday, Sep 03, 2007
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Sport

Confident India takes on Korea

S. Thyagarajan

The result may determine the semifinalist

— Photo: R. Ragu

GETTING IT RIGHT: Prabhjot Singh (third from right) celebrates with teammates after India’s victory over Sri Lanka on Saturday.

Chennai: When evaluated against the components that justify the contours of quality stuff, there was nothing precious to portray in a panegyric vein in the current Asia Cup hockey championship.

That as many 103 goals were scored in a set of 10 matches spread over two days may be a statistician’s delight; but it serves as a poor advertisement for the development of hockey.

The imbalance between the top few and the rest is staggering, and, unequivocally disturbing.

Sheer intensity

Having said this, it must be acknowledged that two matches stood out for their sheer intensity. The upset win by Japan against Pakistan underlined the emergence of a new crystallisation, as did the close contest between China and India.

There is optimism that the next stage, which resumes on Monday, may provide tougher contests as the event progresses towards the semifinals point.

After that euphoric 20-0 victory against Sri Lanka on Saturday, the confidence level for the Indians is naturally high. Indisputably, the success was nothing to crow about.

What must have pleased coach Joaquim Carvalho is the opportunity the team had to test all its systems. The combined work of the forwards was more emphatic than the conversion of penalty corners.

The forwardline, headed by Prabhjot Singh and Tushar Khandekar, made merry of the weak Sri Lankan defence, while the midfield controlled the trend without losing focus. Hearteningly, in both the matches, the midfield work of Gurbaj Singh, Bimal Lakra and Prabodh Tirkey had been exemplary.

If this harmony continues, then the chances of India shifting into a different octave can be prophesied.

Litmus test

A litmus test stems on Monday when India takes on Korea. The outcome will more or less determine the qualifier for last four. The Koreans are in fine fettle having netted 28 goals in two matches and leading the table. So far their conversion rate in penalty corners has been outstanding.

Both Jang Jong Hyun and Kim Byung Hoon have been menacing in their work.

The Indian defence needs to frustrate both by remaining error free as much as possible to make a match of it.

In close contests, the Koreans display enormous amount of grit, which integrates appropriately with their skill and tactics. The Indians, who had won the match played last in the Azlan Shah Cup in May 1-0, have a lot to prove in front of the home crowd.

Interestingly, statistics point out 23 defeats for India against 21 victories in the 56 matches played so far against Korea.

A dozen matches have ended without a decisive result.

Pakistan’s reverse on Saturday has made the situation in Pool ‘A’ somewhat complex. It now boils down to a three-way route involving Pakistan, Japan and Malaysia.

Only Malaysia has an all win record so far, six points from two matches with a tally of 21 goals. Coach Sarjit Singh has a challenge in his hands to evolve a strategy to meet the demands of overpowering both Japan and Pakistan.

Equally daunting is the task for Islahuddin, who must ensure his team recoveres sufficiently from the humiliation against Japan and prepare the chart for a semifinals berth.

Sunday’s rest had given the coaches sufficient time to rework their plans and lift the aspect of competition to different plane than what we witnessed in the last two days.

The positions (read as played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):