s2h Team
On 29 September, 1986, South Korea upstaged giants India and Pakistan while striding towards Asian hockey supremacy, making nonsense of the prediction that the Asian Games competition was going to be a two-horse race as usual. Was the Korean emergence expected? And why was the unseating of traditional powers considered a watershed moment not only for Asian hockey but also for the sport globally? S2H turns back the clock to that fateful day for a few insights in the penultimate episode of the September Series.
The media yet again dismissed the 1986 Seoul Asian Games men’s hockey event as a two-horse race between seven-time gold medallists Pakistan and India who had won it once before but finished with the silver in every edition.
Hosts South Korea, however, seemed to ignore the script. Displaying a new style of play and taking the sport to another level of physical fitness and speed, the Koreans won the gold medal in style, beating the World Cup, Olympic, Asia Cup and defending Asian Games champions Pakistan in front of a packed Seongnam Stadium on this day, September 29.
Their women took the cue and grabbed gold too after dethroning India, who finished with the bronze medal, and beating Japan, who took the silver, to usher in a new era, not just in Asia but globally as well. On the opening day itself one got a whiff of the winds of change. India, second favourites after Pakistan, were held to a 1-1 draw by the hosts.
Korean men and women won the 1986 Asian Games hockey gold, replacing Pakistan and India, respectively
The Koreans then ignited, beating Hong Kong 8-0 and Thailand 10-0 and so much were they in control that they chose not to top the group after Malaysia shocked Pakistan in the opposite pool to take top position. The hosts preferred to avoid the Green Shirts in the semifinals – leaving India to face the daunting task – and reigned in their efforts to score against Japan, winning 4-0 when they were good for more.
Malaysia, by and large the third force in the continent after India and Pakistan, were disposed of 4-1 by the clinical Koreans. India came to grief in extra-time against their bitter rivals Pakistan 1-3 and that set it up nicely for a rousing final.
After India claimed the bronze medal with a 4-1 win over Malaysia, around 28,000 packed the stadium as the hosts, determined to make history, squared up to seeming invincible Pakistan. Pakistan silenced the crowd by taking the lead but South Korea whose fitness, honed by commando-like training lent an unprecedented dimension to hockey, came back strongly to win 2-1.
Captain Md Shahid was the onlooker when India was dethroned from the Asian Games pedestal in 1986
In doing so they broke Pakistan’s 20-year reign as Asian Games champions, trumpeting their arrival as Asia’s new champions which could only have breathed life into the game in the continent – a fact perhaps noted by Pakistan president Mohammed Zia-ul Haq who sent the South Korean team a congratulatory telegram.
So what did the Koreans bring to the table at Seoul 1986?
Besides speed, control and fitness, they eschewed the debilitating facet of dribbling, arguably the downfall of traditional powers India and Pakistan.
Instead, riding on their impeccable trapping, high-speed passing and devastating positioning and cohesion, they prised open defences.
Then again, they introduced a soccer-based formation deploying three strikers backed up by as many midfielders – the perfect platform for Kim Man Hye, the tournament top scorer with 11 goals to parade his wares.
Han Jong Ryul provided the perfect foil for Hye on the right flank and with Chung Kye Seok bolstering the defence in which goalkeeper Seok Kyun played his part commendably, the Koreans were good for gold.
South Korea had not qualified for the World Cup in Willesden, England, which started just days after the final and proved a disaster for Asian giants India and Pakistan who played off for the wooden spoon.
But in the years to come, the Koreans enriched the sport with their findings and tactics, after finishing seventh in the 1988 Olympics they hosted in the same city.
Enjoying the services of Kim Sang-Ryul, who studied the rudiments of coaching in India, they proved unstoppable in Asia after an aberration in the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing, raking in the men’s and women’s gold medals at continental championships till India beat them on penalty strokes in the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games final. They added to their Asian Games titles, winning the gold at Busan 2002 and Doha 2006 as well as the Asia Cup titles at Kuantan 2009 and Ipoh 2013.
MM Somaya, Vineet Kumar, Joaquim Carvalho & BK Subramani defending a penalty corner in a late 1980s match
A silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics was the pinnacle of South Korea’s global impact on the game and semi-final entries in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups along with a Champions Trophy silver medal (1999) and bronze (2000 and 2009) underlined their prowess.
Sadly, Korea today have fallen off the top bracket after having failed to qualify for the 2016 and 2020 Olympics as well as the 2018 World Cup – a malady stemming from what observers say is poor grassroots development after those halcyon days of the late 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. A fact not ignored by the federation who have revived activity among the very young players.
Fortunately for the game in the continent, Japan have stepped into the breach with gold medals at the 2018 Asian Games won by either gender but the resurgence of South Korea is much the need of the hour, not just for Asian but also world hockey.