India kept alive their chances of claiming a place at next year’s Rabobank Hockey World Cup by reaching the Semi Finals of the 8th Women’s Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur.
The Eves claimed a hard-fought 2-0 win against Malaysia, with Poonam Rani and Lily Chanu Mayengbam both scoring crucial second half goals to end the host nation's title and World Cup qualification ambitions. The result sealed a second place finish in Pool A behind China, who on Tuesday powered to a 7-0 win over Hong Kong China to make it three tournament wins out of three.
Korea continued their superb run of form with a blistering 16-2 win against Chinese Taipei to seal their place at the top of Pool B, while Japan confirmed their place in the competition Semi Finals with a thoroughly convincing 12-0 drubbing of Kazakhstan.
With Asia’s four finest teams powering into the Semi Finals, Thursday’s meetings are expected to be incredibly close and fiercely contested.
Pool A runners up India face a mammoth task when they face Pool B winners Korea, a side that has scored a breath-taking 31 goals in just three matches.
The second Semi Final sees Pool A winners China butting heads with Japan, the runners up from Pool B. China will be favourites, but Japan are more than capable of battling their way into the tournament final.
To keep fully up to speed on the action from the Asia Cup, keep an eye on the following locations.
Official website: www.8thwomensasiacup.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/8thwomensasiacup
Twitter: www.twitter.com/womensasiacup13
The winners of the Asia Cup competition will seal direct qualification to the 2014 Rabobank Hockey World Cup in The Hague, Netherlands. A number of the teams involved have already secured a spot at next year’s showpiece thanks to strong showings at the Hockey World League Semi Finals. If an already qualified nation becomes continental champion, this will open the door to the nations who finished outside the top three at the Hockey World League Semi Finals. To see who has qualified so far and exactly how they got there, you can see our simple guide by clicking the links below.
