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| May 10, 2007 | Thursday | Rabi-us-Sani 22, 1428 |
Pakistan miss semis berth after loss to Koreans: S. Korea, Australia and India reach Azlan Shah Cup last four
IPOH (Malaysia), May 9: South Korea, Australia and India qualified for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup semi-finals here on Wednesday.
South Korea beat Pakistan 4-2 in their postponed encounter while reigning Olympic champions Australia were big winners in Group A, defeating China 7-2.
India played above themselves and carved out a 2-0 win over Argentina to seal their place in the semi-finals as the group runners-up.
Australia, India and Argentina finished with six points each. But Australia and India qualified by virtue of a superior goal difference.
The semi-finals, which will be played on Friday, will see group B winners Malaysia meeting India, while South Korea will play Australia.
The day began with the resumption of the South Korea-Pakistan game, which was abandoned on Monday with the score at 2-2.
Korea were the stronger team when play resumed from the 27th minute. They were dominant in the second half and Jeong Yun-sang scored in the 48th minute.
This was followed by a field goal from Yoon Sung-hoon in the 61st minute.
Pakistan coach Islahuddin Siddiqui was disappointed with his team's performance and blamed the postponement for the defeat.
“With the defeat we will again be on the field tomorrow. It is going to be very difficult for us,” he said.
The Australians knew they needed goals to qualify. Grant Schubert, winning his 100th cap for his country, scored the first hat-trick of the tournament.
Australian coach Colin Batch said they were happy to have made the cut as that had been their aim from the start.
“We were not looking at the position in the table standing but just the win to put us through. The players took their chances well and that helped. We will think about the semi-final tomorrow. It really does not matter whom we play as they will all be tough opponents,” he said.
Results:
Australia 7……………China 2
India 2…………………Argentina 0
Pakistan 2………………South Korea 4
Thurday’s fixtures:
Classification matches: Argentina v Canada; China v Pakistan.
Friday (semi-finals): Australia v South Korea, Malaysia v India.
—AFP
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