Defending champions India remained unbeaten in the Asian Champions Trophy as they registered their fourth consecutive victory and defeated South Korea 3-1 at the Moqi Hockey Training Base in Hulunbuir, China, on Thursday. Skipper Harmanpreet Singh (9′, 43′) scored a brace in India’s win, while Araijeet Singh Hundal (8′) gave an early lead.
Having already entered the semi-finals, India looked to continue their winning ways against Korea in their penultimate league-stage match. The defending champions showcased this intent very early in the match with a stupendous 8th-minute goal by Araijeet Singh Hundal.
A fierce cross pass by Vivek Sagar Prasad was picked up well by Hundal. He made no mistake from the top of the circle. In the following minute, skipper Harmanpreet scored from a penalty corner to extend India’s lead to 2-0. This marked Harmanpreet’s 200th international goal.
Korea, who registered a fantastic 3-2 win against China to climb up to second spot in the points table, were not going to let India have it easy. (Neeraj Chopra, Avinash Sable To Compete In Brussels Diamond League 2024)
After shaking off the nerves in the first quarter, Korea bounced back with tactical defence, curbing Indian attackers from keeping the ball in possession. In the last seven minutes of the second quarter, they punished India with interjections and counterattacks, eventually setting up a penalty corner in the 30th minute of the match. Jihun Yang came up with a fine execution to reduce the deficit to 2-1.
The third quarter saw both India and Korea trade an equal number of penalty corners, with each earning four. However, only India could successfully put one in the net, with Harmanpreet coming up with a powerful drag-flick to fetch his team a strong 3-1 lead.
India played the quarter patiently and constructed a compact attack to stay ahead of a tactful Korea. Krishan Pathak held on at the goalpost to keep Korea from scoring.
The final quarter saw India do well as they dominated with ball possession. Though Korea made ambitious attempts to score, Suraj Karkera did well in the goalpost to ensure India didn’t concede a goal. India will take on arch-rivals Pakistan in their next encounter.