India pip Korea to finish third

V Narayan Swamy

GUANGZHOU: India got over the disappointment of Tuesday’s semifinal defeat to clinch the men’s hockey bronze, a 1-0 victory over South Korea in Thursday’s playoff doing the trick. Tushar Khandker scored the all-important goal.

The bronze was still only a consolation for a team that had come to Guangzhou looking for gold and the direct qualification to the London Olympics that would come with it. As it turned out, that honour went to Pakistan, whom India had defeated in a group-league match here. For Pakistan, who defeated Malaysia 2-0 in Thursday’s final, it was their first hockey gold in 20 years.

Tushar got the match-winner in the 40th minute, slotting the ball into an open goal from a Gurbaj Singh cross from the right. A flurry of raids did not get Koreans the equaliser and they had to settle for fourth place.

This is India’s second bronze medal finish after Seoul 1986. As at Beijing 1990, Korea found themselves knocked off the podium. They had finished with two gold and a silver in the subsequent editions.

The match was played at half the pace when compared to the India-Malaysia semifinal but, then, the Koreans weren’t as menacing as the Malaysians for India to step on the gas. The stakes too were decidedly low and that showed in the way Korea approached the game.

That might have made India’s task easier, but Rajpal Singh’s boys weren’t in a mood to relax. The pep-talk given by the coaches and the truth that a medal would help them get a better draw in the Olympic qualifiers had their effect. They were quietly efficient in defence. The forwardline took a few liberties but was on the job overall and the midfield, where Gurbaj had a good game on the right flank, kept up the pressure.

But what India could have done as they crafted victory was to increase the margin of victory. There were at least four occasions when they spurned scoring opportunities. Tushar missed twice while Rajpal and Sarvanjit joined him in the hit-and-miss club with poorly timed shots.

The teams got three penalty corners each. Goalkeeper Bharat Chhetri put his stick out in time to save the first two drag-flicks by Nam Hyun Woo.