Korea Set Up Final Clash With Hosts

Hyderabad: Raising their game when it mattered most, India downed Pakistan 3-1 to storm into the final of the 6th Men’s Junior Asia Cup Hockey Championship at the Gachibowli Stadium here on Wednesday.

Later, South Korea downed Japan to set up a final clash with the hosts. The feature of the Korean victory was they got all their goals through Nam Hyun Woo who struck twice in each half and all of them were penalty corner conversions. Kenji Kitazato and Ryohei Kawai reduced the margin of defeat for Japan.

The semifinal between the arch-rivals had all that a high-voltage clash does: from breathtaking attacks, rock solid defence to even an exchange of fisticuffs. But there was only one hero, and thankfully for hosts, it was India’s Diwakar Ram.

The 18-year-old Uttar Pradesh lad, who has scored seven goals in the tournament so far, struck two more on Wednesday. In a nutshell, he was the difference between the two teams.

Diwakar manned to defence with perfection and much to the delight of the packed crowd converted two of the four penalty corners.

India were off the blocks with good speed on the ball and dominated the first half with an array of attacks. Sunil, Roshan Minz and Gurwinder Singh Chandi worked in tandem. The persistence of Indian forwards was not to be denied for long and in the 16th minute they reaped the reward when Chandi made the most of a pass from Minz, finding the board with a reverse flick.

India could have gone further up eight minutes later, but Diwakar Ram failed to convert India’s first penalty corner.

Tempers began to rise and just past the half hour, Pakistan’s Kashif Ali and Muhammad Irfan not only pushed India’s captain Gurbaz Singh, but Irfan even went to the extent of exchanging fisticuffs with the Indian players. It was free-for-all for the next four-five minutes before Irfan was shown the yellow card and the rival captains green.

The drama turned the encounter even more gripping, but by the third minute of the second half it became a little clear as to who was waging a losing battle. Diwakar Ram converted yet another penalty corner to trigger panic in the opposition camp.

Realising that the game was slipping out of their hands, the Pakistanis stepped up the attack. Their hard-work in the midfield earned them their second PC. Aamri Shahzad was fouled right on the 25m mark in the 42nd minute and Kashif Ali, the most feared dragflicker in the tournament, reduced the margin for Pakistan.

Notwithstanding that strike, Ali proved ineffective for the rest of the match. He appeared to be under intense pressure and his three other penalty corner strikes were wide of the mark.

The Indians, who retreated when the Pakistanis were on the attack, came back in style, with skipper Gurbaz and Mandeep Antil creating spaces for their forwards. It was only a matter of time before India cashed in on their territorial supremacy and so they did when they earned another penatly corner in the 47th minute. Diwakar was in such devastating form that his thunderous shot zipped past the hapless Pakistani goalkeeper.

With 3-1 on the board, the Indians, who have a history of conceding late goals, were cautious. Pakistanis got two more opportunities but Kashif Ali was disappointing with his striking.