Pakistan carve out morale-boosting win over S. Korea
By Shazad Ali
KARACHI, April 25: Pakistan gave themselves a morale-boosting tonic ahead of the semifinals as Imran Warsi and Adnan Zakir scored twice in hosts' 7-3 victory over title-holders South Korea to become Pool 'A' champions at Junior Asia Cup hockey on Sunday.
India, who emerged Pool 'B' leaders, play South Korea in the semifinals after a 5-2 win over Malaysia who now meet Pakistan in last four on Tuesday after a day's rest on Monday.
Although scoreline suggests home side won easily, the fact is the electrifying game deteriorated into a one-sided affair only after lemons at Hockey Club of Pakistan.
Two of the continent's best sides fought neck-and-neck until 52nd minute when green shirts started taking advantage of acres of space given by the defending champions. South Koreans drew first blood with a Jong Hyun Jang penalty corner conversion off Pakistan goalkeeper Mohammad Iqbal stick in the 13th minute, sending a paltry but boisterous South Korean crowd into raptures.
Pakistan were reduced to ten players when Sajjad Anwar was yellow carded in the 14th minute while South Korea's Yun Bae Kong received temporary suspension four minutes later for rough play.
Iqbal produced two stupendous saves in the 18th minute when he stopped a Jong Hyun Jang try off penalty corner and then blocked Sung Kweon Hong effort on a rebound. South Korea captain Eun Seong Hong missed when he swept the ball up and above the bar in the 19th minute.
Pakistan equalised in the 20th minute, penalty corner striker Imran Warsi push being blocked by South Korean dasher Sung Hoon Yoon and Asim Khan slamming home off a rebound.
While Imran Warsi scored twice from three attempts, another short corner executioner Mohammad Imran was a failure with all four attempts wasted. After a weak Mohammad Imran effort, Imran Warsi's blistering drag-flick gave South Korea goalkeeper Jae Young no chance in the 24th minute.
Pakistan could have scored their third had Kashif Yaqoob not squandered an opportunity with goal open wide a minute into the second session. The seesaw encounter saw South Korea putting the game on an even keel in the 42nd minute through Sung Kweon Hong with an indirect drill past Iqbal.
Imran Warsi's perfect push that crashed into roof of the net in the 45th minute made it 3-2 but Adnan Zakir's connection four minutes later was blocked by Jae Young. South Koreans continued tit-for-tit response after Wan Tae Park dodged Imran Warsi to square a perfect back pass to Sung Hoon Yoon who netted in the 49th minute.
The nail-biting clash soon became one-sided match as Pakistan displayed fast, adventurous hockey that had South Korean defence appear distinctly uncomfortable. Pakistan knocked all the fight out of battling South Koreans with goal number four through a Adnan strike that went through Jae Young pads in the 52nd minute.
A clinical finish by Kashif following a Shakeel Abbasi pass made it 5-3 in the 56th minute, two minutes later Adnan found the target for the sixth goal, while Shakeel's 62nd minute indirect effort sealed the fate of the game.
Pakistan could have ended with a 10-3 scoreline but Akhtar Ali slammed the side-netting twice and his third attempt was blocked by Jae Young in the dying moments of the game. Like Bangladesh, Malaysians also contained feared Indian penalty corner specialist Sandeep Singh as he converted two of the four penalty corners.
Indian skipper Sandeep Micheal opened the account after being fed a minus pass by Vivek Gupta in the 10th minute. Sandeep Singh's push sailed over the bar on first short corner, while his second attempt was effectively blocked by Malaysian goalkeeper Hanafi Hassan.
Sandeep Singh scored from the spot in the 23rd minute after Chinese umpire Chen Dekang controversially awarded India a penalty stroke, although Sandeep Micheal was not tripped by a Malaysian defender and slipped at the top of the circle. Sandeep Micheal netted his second a minute after re-start followed by two penalty corner conversions by Malaysia's Mohd Rejab in the 39th and 49th minutes.
India's V. Raja (60th minute) and Sandeep Singh (70th minute) completed the tally against Malaysians who rested few key players including skipper Azlan Misron. Singapore scored first upset victory of the tournament when they defeated Japan 2-1.
Shi Hee Shaun Roger netted the first for Singapore in the 38th minute, while Noorkhairi M. Samsudin got the second in the 44th minute. Japan scored consolation through Taichi Okazaki in the 59th minute. Liu Yixian's winner in the 44th minute gave China a 1-0 win over Sri Lanka.
Standings(tabulated under matches played, won, draw, lost, goals for, goals against, points):
