Asia Cup | Wasteful India rallies to hold Korea in its first Super 4 fixture

If missed chances could write a story, they would write a glorious one for the Indian men’s hockey team. Instead, the players would have been left ruing the multitude of opportunities they wasted in a hard-fought 2-2 draw with defending champion Korea in its first Super 4s game of the Asia Cup at the Rajgir Sports Complex here on Wednesday.

Starting an hour later than scheduled because of a short but heavy spell of rain that led to puddles and forced the players off the turf, the game was clearly more about who adjusted better to the difficult conditions. And India proved more than able, on the attack from the beginning and creating chances early on including a penalty corner in the second minute itself.

But Manpreet, usually foolproof in the set-pieces, had a poor stop and then tried to take a shot himself, hitting wide. It was sign of things to come for the Indians. A couple of PCs five minutes later were similarly wasted before Sukhjeet snatched the ball at half line and put Hardik Singh through, who cleaved the middle of the turf to enter the circle and slam home for the lead.

The match turned in the 12th minute when Korea sought a PC, but the TV umpire awarded a penalty stroke instead for Jugraj Singh’s deliberate push on Seyong Oh before receiving inside the circle. Jihun Yang duly converted to level and, two minutes later, Hyeonhong Kim smashed in the first of Korea’s two PCs to go ahead.

The next 45 minutes was a script that is getting eerily familiar here — missed chances, poor finishing, a second too late in passing inside the circle, a little too casual in the attack and a second too much in hurry to take the shot, refusing to take the extra second to compose and get into the right position.

At least 12 times through the game unmarked Indian forwards had a clear sight at goal but were off target. The tireless midfield of Hardik, Vivek, Rajinder and Manpreet kept them feeding and Abhishek, Sukhjeet and Dilpreet missed repeatedly. India also earned six PCs, not converting any. Credit should also go to Korean goalkeeper Jaehan Kim, deservedly named Man-of-the-Match, for bringing off some impressive saves.

The second half was almost entirely played in the Korean half, partly forced by the relentless Indian attack and partly by the Koreans’ patience to sit back and defend their slim lead. But something had to give and it finally did, Mandeep placed perfectly to tap in Sukhjeet’s put-through in the 53rd minute to equalise, much to the relief of both the Indian team management and the crowd. But with Malaysia up next on Thursday, the players have less than 24 hours to get their bodies, and more importantly, minds sorted.

Game of attrition

The first Super 4s game between China and Malaysia was always expected to be a game of attrition. The deadlock was finally broken when Syed Cholan’s flick deflected in from a defender’s stick at the stroke of final break.

Akhimullah Anuar made it 2-0 two minutes later to take his team to the top of table.

Japan registered a 2-0 win against Taiwan in the 5-8 place playoffs. Ryosuke Shinohara scored both goals in the first quarter and Japan wasted half a dozen PCs in the game.

The results: Super 4s: Malaysia 2 (Syed Cholan 45, Akhimullah Anuar 47) bt China 0; India 2 (Hardik Singh 8, Mandeep Singh 53) drew with Korea 2 (Jihun Yang 12, Hyeonhong Kim 14).

5-8: Japan 2 (Ryosuke Shinohara 5, 11) bt Taiwan 0.