After a thrilling two weeks of competition, Korea emerged as the Hero Asia Cup 2022 champions following a tense and hard-fought match against Malaysia.

Earlier in the day, India had taken third place with a 1-0 win over Japan.

All four teams will now be participating in the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar - Rourkela, India.

This event in Jakarta, Indonesia has been a welcome return of live hockey action to the region and the matches to decide the top four placings were high quality, enjoyable and entertaining.

In the final, Korea took the lead in the 17th minute through a well-placed shot from Jung Manjae. Malaysia came right back into the game just eight minutes later when Syed Cholan was able to find a gap past Korea’s goalkeeper Kim Jaehyeon.

The teamsthen battled for a decisive breakthrough goal until Hwang Taeil added to the Korea score-sheet. There was an anxious final minute when Jeong Junwoo was given a yellow card and Malaysia pushed hard for an equaliser but Korea’s defence held strong and they won the title for the fifth time. The result extends Korea’s lead when it comes to titles won. India and pakistan have three titles a piece, while Malaysia is still seeking its first gold at the event.

In the bronze medal match a solitary goal from Kumar Pal in the seventh minute was all that separated India and Japan. Earlier in the competition’s pool stages, Japan had enjoyed a 5-2 win over their higher ranked rivals, but in the Super4s, India won twice 2-1 and then 1-0 in the final.

The competition’s top scorer was Razie Rahim of Malaysia with 13 goals – 11 penalty corners and two penalty strokes. Rahim was way ahead of the next top scorers, Jang Jonghyun of Korea, Rizwan Ali of Pakistan and Koji Yamasaki of Japan. who all scored six.

The final placings in the Hero Asia Cup 2022 are as follows:

Korea

Malaysia

India

Japan

Pakistan

Bangladesh

Oman

Indonesia

Japan, Malaysia and Korea qualified through the Hero Asia Hockey Cup, while India has automatic qualification as the host nation. All four teams will be competing at the World Cup against Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain and Wales.