A Korean thriller

rajgir: India wasted chances galore to settle for a 2-2 draw against defending champions South Korea in their first Super 4 match of the men’s Asia Cup hockey tournament here on Wednesday.

The Indians were by far the better side on display in terms of possession and chances but the Koreans defended stoutly to earn a deserving draw.

Both teams got a point each.

Hardik Singh (8th minute) and Mandeep Singh (53rd) scored for India, while Korea’s goals were scored by Jihun Yang (12th) and Hyeonhong Kim (14th).

India will next play Malaysia, while Korea will be up against China on Thursday.

The India-Korea match was delayed by nearly 50 minutes because of a heavy downpour just before opening whistle.

From the onset, Hardik was a live wire for India in the midfield with his neat dribbles and solo runs.

India secured their first penalty corner in the second minute The hosts earned back-to-back penalty corners in the seventh minute but they failed to breach the Korean defence.

But a minute later India deservedly took the lead through Hardik.

Sukhjeet Singh stole the ball in the halfline and passed it on Hardik, who dribbled past four to five Korean defenders and then put the ball in past the goalkeeper to give his team the lead.

But some sloppy defending from India allowed Korea to draw level in the 12th minute.

An intentional push from Jugraj Singh on a Korean player inside the circle resulted in a penalty stroke and Jihun Yang made no mistake.

Two minutes later, Korea added salt to India’s wounds when Hyeonhong Kim converted their first penalty corner, flicking the ball past Indian custodian Krishan Bahadur Pathak’s extended left leg.

The second goal seemed to have unsettled the Indians a bit as the South Koreans played fine zonal hockey to keep their opponent’s at bay.

The Indians did manage to penetrate the circle a few times but the Korean defence was resolute. In the 24th minute, Jarmanpreet Singh’s slap shot from right after receiving a pass from skipper Harmanpreet Singh was saved by an alert Korean goalkeeper Jaehan Kim as India went into the halfway break trailing 1-2. After the change of ends, Korea tried to slow down the game as much as possible and were content to hold on to possession as India pressed hard but without any sting.

In the 41st minute India had a golden chance to draw level but an unmarked Sukhjeet Singh pushed wide of the target after receiving an inch-perfect pass from Manpreet Singh.

Minutes later Abhishek reverse from wen inches wide of the goal.

The Indians had another great chance but with just goalkeeper to beat, Abhishek could connect properly and shot wide. Seconds from the end of third quarter, India secured their fourth penalty corner but Harmanpreet’s effort was saved by the Korean defence.

The Indians continued to put pressure till the final whistle in search of the winner, which eluded them.

Meanwhile, Malaysia beat China 2-0 to open their points tally. The opening half ended goalless before Syed Cholan broke the deadlokck for Malaysia by converting a penalty corner in the 45th minute.