With two places in final of the 2013 Asia Cup up for grabs, Day 6 of the competition in Ipoh, Malaysia was always likely to be an exhilarating affair. It proved to be exactly that, with Korea and India battling their way past the respective challenges of Pakistan and Malaysia to keep alive their hopes of being crowned champions of Asia.
The first semi-final featured Korea and Pakistan in action. The Greenshirts came into the match determined not only to avenge the defeat that they suffered against Korea in the quarter finals of the Hockey World League Round 3 tournament in Johor Bahru (MAS) but also keep alive their hopes of playing in next year’s Rabobank Hockey World Cup in The Hague (NED). Nevertheless, it was Korea who came away from the match smiling having earned a 2-1 victory thanks to penalty corner goals either side of half time from Jang Jong Hyun and Lee Nam Yong. Pakistan captain Muhammad Imran netted a penalty corner of his own in the 46th minute, but Korea held on for a win that sealed their place in the final and ended Pakistan hopes of featuring in next year’s showpiece event in the Netherlands.
The second semi-final was played in front of a passion-filled packed house, as a massive partisan crowd turned out in the hope of watching Malaysia inflict a famous defeat on the hockey powerhouse that is India. Despite a brilliant showing from the host nation, who dominated possession for large periods of the game, it was the eight time Olympic gold medallists who came away with a 2-0 victory thanks to some ruthless finishing. Penalty corner ace V R Raghunath opened the scoring in the eighth minute with a trademark drag-flick, with Mandeep Singh putting the gloss on the result ten minutes from time when he finished off a high quality counter-attack, confirming India’s safe passage through to Sunday’s final.
Earlier in the day, Japan battled their way to a 3-0 win over Bangladesh to put themselves in to Saturday’s 5-6 placement game. Their opponents in that match will be Oman, who defeated Chinese Taipei in a penalty shoot-out. Bangladesh and Chinese Taipei will contest the 7-8 placement game, which also takes place on Saturday.
For comprehensive information the men’s Asia Cup 2013, please visit the official tournament website by clicking here.
Saturday 24 August 2013
Pool B: India - Oman 8-0 (4-0)
Pool A: Pakistan - Japan 7-0 (6-0)
Pool A: Malaysia - Chinese-Taipei 10-2 (4-1)
Sunday 25 August 2013
Pool B: Korea - Bangladesh 9-0 (4-0)
Pool A: Japan - Chinese-Taipei 5-1 (1-1)
Pool A: Pakistan - Malaysia 4-1 (1-1)
Monday 26 August 2013
Pool B: Bangladesh - Oman 2-4 (0-1)
Pool B: India - Korea 2-0 (1-0)
Tuesday 27 August 2013
Pool A: Pakistan - Chinese-Taipei 13-0 (3-0)
Pool A: Japan - Malaysia 2-4 (2-2)
Wednesday 28 August 2013
Pool B: Korea - Oman 10-0 (2-0)
Pool B: India - Bangladesh 9-1 (5-1)
Friday 30 August 2013
Placement 5-8: Japan – Bangladesh 3-0 (2-0)
Placement 5-8: Oman - Chinese-Taipei 4-2 (After Penalty Shootout)
Semi-final: Pakistan – Korea 1-2 (0-1)
Semi-final: India – Malaysia 2-0 (1-0)
Saturday 31 August 2013
17:30 Placement 7-8: Bangladesh – Chinese-Taipei
20:00 Placement 5-6: Japan – Oman
Sunday 1 September 2013
* 17:30 Bronze medal match: Pakistan - Malaysia
* 20:00 Final: Korea – India
*Times listed are local (UTC/GMT +8)
