The Hindu : Sport : India fights off spirited Korea; meets China in final

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India fights off spirited Korea; meets China in final

S. Thyagarajan

Bangkok: With a display that was bewitching to behold, India edged Korea out 3-2 to ensure a place in the next World Cup and also take on China in Sunday’s final of the women’s Asia Cup. China beat the defending champion Japan by a solitary goal in the earlier semifinal.

At the Queen Sirikit Stadium here, India brought back memories of the epic men’s final in the Asiad of ’98, holding on with remarkable resilience in the final minutes to keep the Koreans under check.

India had a 3-0 lead midway in the second half giving one the impression that Korea had been outplayed. Up to that point, it was India that had everything going for it.

Superb strikes

Two superb strikes by Jasjeet Handa and an equally brilliant effort by Rani Rampal had the Korean defence in tatters. Never the ones to take things lying down, the Koreans hit the target twice in the last 10 minutes or so, and forced two penalty corners after the end of the regulation time.

But India weathered this onslaught with beaming nonchalance, thanks to the good work under the bar by Dipika Murty.

The Indians clearly had shrugged off the lethargy that marked their earlier match against Malaysia. They played with rare assurance, probably on account of the early goal that Jasjeet Handa slotted in from a penalty corner. In this part too, the Koreans pressed hard and had a sequence of three penalty corners, but each time Dipika staved off the threat.

Shortly after the break, Jasjeet Handa scored a peach of a goal — a shot on the run from a cross by Rani Rampal. As though to celebrate the mood, Rani Rampal produced a stunner of a shot — a reverse flick from the top of the circle that hit the roof of the net.

Solid defence

The Korean attack, frequent though, failed to get the measure of the Indian deep defence. Binita Toppo and Subadhra Pradhan proved a tower of strength as were Dipika Thakur in the mid-field supported by Mamta Kharab and Ritu Rani.

As the Koreans realised in the last 10 minutes that the writing was on the wall, they pooled all their resources and attacked strongly.

Eun Sil Kim converted a penalty corner impeccably and within a minute Miyun Park slammed in across from the left.

With five to go, visions of a draw arose, as did the pressure on the defenders. The penalty corners that ensued were saved amidst building tension across the ground.

Predictably, when the hooter went off after India had blunted two penalty corners at the end of the regulation time, the players jumped for joy. And India richly deserved that moment. “I am elated and this was all because of team work,” was all a happy Kaushik, the Indian coach, could say immediately after the match.

India last figured in the final in 2004, and Sunday’s will be its third appearance in the event — the first was in 1999. It would not be out of place to mention that India had beaten Korea to the bronze at the 2006 Doha Asiad.

Intrepid goalkeeping

A sterling display by Japanese goalkeeper Yuka Yoshikawa was insufficient to prevent China’s march into the final.

The solitary goal scored by Zhang Yu off an astute move by Fu Rong close on half-time cannot mirror adequately the dominance of the Chinese attack and the systematic blunting of that edge by the Japanese goalkeeper. One lost count of the number of saves by this intrepid goalkeeper.

Alert, athletic and anticipating angles with commendable zeal, Yoshikawa was singularly responsible for denying China a victory by the bigger margin.

True, China came up with several incisive moves, prompted largely by Song Ling and carried on tactically by Fu Rong. But all the work ended near the goal post where Yoshikawa stood like an eternal sentinel.

China forked as many as six penalty corners, four in the second half. But not all the power and precision in the execution by the seasoned Ma Yibo could disturb the composure of Yoshikawa.

The results: Classification: Places 5-8: Malaysia 5 (Norbaini Hashim, Nor Farhana Hahim, Juliani Muhammad Bin, Nadia Abdul Rehman, Sitirahmah Othman) bt Hong Kong 0; Kazakhstan 2 (Gulnari Mangaleiva 2) bt Singapore 1 (Nursbrina Banuh).

Semifinals: China 1 (Zhao Yu) bt Japan 0; India 3 (Jasjeet Handa 2, Rani Rampal) bt Korea 2 (Eun Sil Kim, Mihyan Park).

Saturday’s matches: Places 10-11: Thailand v Sri Lanka, 1-30 p.m.; 7-8: Hong Kong v Singapore, 2 p.m.; 5-6: Malaysia v Kazakhstan, 4-30 p.m.

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