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| May 28, 2005 | Saturday | Rabi-us-Sani 19, 1426 |
Australia held to a draw by South Korea
KUALA LUMPUR, May 27: Australia drew 3-3 with South Korea in a topsy-turvy match at the 14th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup on Friday, having nearly snatched an improbable victory after fighting back from two goals down. In an earlier game, India were also forced to haul themselves back from a two-goal deficit as they salvaged a 2-2 draw with New Zealand.
Hosts Malaysia and South Africa completed Fridays programme by winning their first points of the tournament after battling to a 1-1 draw.
Olympic gold medallists and defending champions Australia found themselves 2-0 down at half-time after South Koreas sharp-shooting Eun Seong-hong scored a double.
The Australians hit back after the break when Luke Doerner converted a 50th-minute penalty corner and Michael McCann hit the equaliser two minutes later.
Travis Brooks scored what Australia thought was the winning goal with four minutes left but South Korea, third here last year, forced a draw when Hyo Sik-yiu scored in the final minute.
“It was a very tough match,” said Australian coach Barry Dancer. “We always knew Korea were a strong team.
“We just couldnt do anything in the first half. We couldnt even get into the D but after that we fought back very well and did a good job to get a draw.”
It was South Korea’s first match of the tournament and they showed that they are among the teams capable of challenging for honours.
Australia will face rivals New Zealand on Sunday.
The South Koreans meet Pakistan on Saturday in the second match for both teams.
India, trailing 2-0 at half-time to goals from Darren Smith and Bevan Hari, turned on the style in the second half as substitute Rajpal Singh pulled one back in the 42nd minute and Prahbjot Singh completed his teams comeback with five minutes left.
India’s draw follows a 2-1 victory over South Africa in the opening match on Thursday.
They were New Zealands first points of the tournament after losing to Pakistan 2-1 on Thursday.
Smith gave the Kiwis the lead with a field goal on 21 minutes after a mistake in the Indian defence and Hari tapped in to extend their advantage just four minutes later.
India came out with renew vigour after the break and the addition of Rajpal Singh to the midfield allowed India to control the game.
The ineffective upfield flicks in the first half were replaced by direct hits and Rajpal put India back in the match just seven minutes after the interval. India were helped by a yellow card given to New Zealands Dean Couzins, sent off for rough play.
The Indians piled on the pressure and were unable to convert a succession of penalty corners. Prabhjot finally earned his side a deserved draw when he fired home in the 65th minute.
Standings after Friday’s matches: (played, won, draw, lost, for, against, points)
Australia 2 1 1 0 6 4 4
India 2 1 1 0 4 3 4
Pakistan 1 1 0 0 2 1 3
S.Korea 1 0 1 0 3 3 1
New Zealand 2 0 1 1 3 4 1
South Africa 2 0 1 1 2 3 1
Malaysia 2 0 1 1 2 4 1
—AFP
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