Host nation Korea have claimed a place at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games thanks to a hard fought victory over China in the women’s final at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon on Wednesday (1 October). India defeated Japan to take Bronze, while Malaysia thrashed Kazakhstan to claim fifth place.
The highlight of the day was the big final between China and Korea, a battle not only for Gold but also a place in the Rio 2016 Olympic hockey tournament, the first place to be assigned to a team. The contest was a rematch of the final of the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, and as was the case then, the hosts took the glory.
Although Korea made the better start to the match, they could not translate their dominance into first half goals thanks to some outstanding Chinese defending. Korea increase the pressure in the second period and eventually broke the deadlock in the 41st minute when a bouncing ball fell to Kim Darae in the circle, who took full advantage to fire home what eventually proved to be the winner.
China battled in vain to level the scores but in the end Korea left the field as the deserving winners of both the match and the tournament, booking that all important first ticket to the Olympic hockey tournament in Rio in the process.
After the match, Chinese coach You Baodong commented that both teams had played a very good game, but the difference had been that Korea knew to convert their opportunities while China had failed to do so. When asked about when preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will begin, Korea coach Han Jin Soo replied with a knowing smile. “Today. Now.”
Earlier, Japan and India had taken to the field to dispute the Bronze medal. The first half of the match was evenly contested, but it was India who went into half time with a 1-0 lead thanks to a penalty corner conversion from Jaspreet Kaur. Scoring opportunities remained scarce in the second half until Akane Shibata grabbed a long sought equaliser. However, Japan’s joy was short-lived as India replied less than a minute later, with Vandana Katariya netting the Bronze medal winning goal.
India coach Neil Hawgood was emotional after the match, describing today’s win as “the result of two-and-a-half years of very hard work”, and confessing special pride in the resilience shown by his talented but youthful charges against a gifted Japanese team.
In the match for fifth place between Malaysia and Kazakhstan, the first two quarters were open battle although neither team could create a significant advantage. Malaysia scored in the 20th minute but the contest remained close ahead of a thoroughly one-sided second half.
A yellow-card for Kazakhstan’s Natalya Gataulina swung the game massively in Malaysia’s favour, netting two goals within a minute to take the score to 3-0 and effectively win the match. Kazakhstan faded in the final quarter, while the still energetic Malaysians battled on to secure a comprehensive final score of 8-0. The result ensured that Malaysia finished in fifth place, the same position they achieved at the last Asian Games four years ago.
Results
Wednesday, 1 October 2014 – Women
5/6th place: Malaysia – Kazakhstan 8-0 (1-0)
Bronze Medal: Japan – India 1-2 (0-1)
Final: China – Korea 0-1 (0-0)
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