Hangzhou: The Indian women’s hockey team was held to a 1-1 draw by South Korea but the Savita Punia-led unbeaten side still continued to lead its pool in the Asian Games here on Sunday.
Navneet Kaur (44th min) scored the equaliser for the higher-ranked India after Cho Hyejin (12th) had put South Korea ahead at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Stadium.
Thanks to the draw, the Indian team, currently ranked sixth in the world, held onto the top spot in Pool A by goal difference over 12-ranked Korea.
The top two teams from each pool will qualify for the semi-finals. India crushed Singapore 13-0 in the opener before notching a 6-0 win over Malaysia. The first quarter ended with Korea 1-0 ahead with the Indians lacking the finishing skills upfront. Desperate to find the equaliser, India earned a few penalty corners but none of them resulted in a goal as the first half ended with South Korea leading by a goal.
The third quarter also went along similar lines until Navneet found the back of the net off a penalty corner. The two teams tried hard to take the lead in the final quarter but their efforts did not translate into goals.