Some consolation for India, pip Korea to podium
The Indian men’s hockey team lifted itself from the disappointment of missing a final berth and clinched the bronze medal after defeating four-time champions South Korea in the third-place playoff here on Thursday. India beat the 2002 and 2006 gold medal winners with a lone second-half goal through Tushar Khandkar to end their campaign on a better note than four years ago in Doha where they’d ended up a poor fifth.
Having lost 3-4 to Malaysia in the semifinals, the Rajpal Singh-led side outsmarted the fitter and faster Koreans.
By virtue of this bronze, India ended their eight year-long medal drought in the quadrennial event after having finished on the podium (silver) in the 2002 Busan Games. India’s win also ended double defending champions South Korea’s honeymoon in Asian Games hockey. This is the first instance since the 1986 Seoul Games that they finished without a medal. India held on to the 40th minute field goal notched by Khandkar who, left unmarked in front of the Korean goal, pushed in a long diagonal hit into the D sent in by Gurbaj Singh, for the all-important goal at the Aoti hockey field.
The Indians kept the pace down in the first half against the speedy Koreans and then upped the ante in the second half in which they got their match-winner but also muffed a couple of golden opportunities to score more.
The player of the match for India was goalkeeper Bharat Chetri who brought off fine saves in defending the penalty corners. Korea earned two PCs in the opening half and one in the second but all came to nothing due to Chetri’s fine stint under the bar.
In the second-half the Indians did not allow the Koreans to penetrate their D except once when the latter got a short-corner award that was hotly disputed as the ball rose off the stick of Bharat Chikara, who tried to block a through pass from Kim Youngjin, and hit a Korean forward inside the circle.