Bhubaneswar, 24 November 2017: In his heydays, Shin Seok Kyo would never allow India even a token goal in major tournaments. He was a solid defender who had Asia’s best midfield to back him. The Koreans of his times gave torrid time to India and Pakistan to finish their superiority. Much water has flowed down the rivers in the last decade. The same Korean hero, who is in charge of Korean men’s team now, predicts India to reach the finals of HWL Finals. And, Pakistan could not qualify for the HWL Finals. Times have indeed changed a lot.
Times have changed so much that Pakistan, which is another side so low in its form, whipped the Koreans 6-3 in the Dhaka Asia Cup bronze medal match recently.
But the Koreans are not disappointed. They want to improve. They are here in India.
“This is part of our preparations for the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. We have 20 players out of which 10 are experienced players and will play the Asian Games while 10 other players are young and we want to test these youngsters with this exposure,” stated Shin Seok Kyo, Chief Coach of Korean Men’s Team.
Though the Korean Team is not among the eight participating teams at the Odisha Men’s Hockey World League Final Bhubaneswar 2017, they will play friendly matches at the Kalinga Stadium against East Coast Railway Team on November 26 and November 30 and also play a friendly against World No.1 Argentina on November 28th. They will also conduct three training sessions at the Kalinga Stadium starting Saturday for their squad.
“These are high level matches for us. Playing a friendly match against Argentina is a big exposure for many of our players and I hope this will help in our preparation for Asian Games which is Olympic Qualifier. I believe the local team we are playing against also has very talented players and it will benefit both teams”.
“We also stay for the first three days of the tournament so we will get to watch all eight teams play matches,” added the Coach who is also a former fullback for the Korean national team. At the recently held Hero Asia Cup 2017, Korea missed a berth to Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, as they finished fourth in the tournament. They drew 1-1 against India in the Super 4s and eventually missed the Bronze medal as they lost to Pakistan 3-6.
On asked who according to him is the favourite to win the tournament, he said, “All eight teams are even but I look to see India in the Final.”