Korea on cloud 9

Vaibhav Sharma

Tribune News Service

Hockey indeed is a game played in two halves, but sadly for Canada both the sessions were heavily dominated by the South Korea as the Asian giants romped home with a massive 9-2 win at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium during the ongoing Hero Honda FIH World Cup.

As if the burden of starting as underdogs was not enough, Canada’s agony was further compounded by their heaviest defeat in a World Cup game. The scoring was opened in the 23rd minute when Nam Hyun Woo scored from a penalty corner. In the 35th minute, Korea furthered their advantage when Jang Jong Hyun scored after Canada conceded a penalty stroke.

Both teams went in for the breather at 2-0, albeit feeling that they could have made more of the first 35 minutes. The second half started in a blaze and in the first 10 minutes saw five goals being scored. Korea struck again with Lee Nam Yong in the 38th, which was followed by two goals in quick succession in the 40th and 41st minutes by Yoon Sung Hoon and You Hyo Sik, respectively.

Reeling under constant attacks and leaking goals, Canada found some solace when Phillip Wright hit the back of the net to make it 5-1. But Korea were far from done and with a full half hour’s play still to go, Jang Jong Hyoon made it 6-1 from a penalty corner in the 45th minute.

A comeback was out of the question, but Canada kept going and made it 6-2 Phillip Wright scored his second goal in the 51st minute. But that was as much lee way as they could have expected and the Koreans went berserk in the final 20 minutes to make the final score read an emphatic 9-2. The last three goals came from hat-trick hero Jang Jong Hyun (61), You Hyo Sik (63) and Nam Hyon Woo (67). The win gives a boost to Korea’s chances ahead and for Canada, well the Koreans had too much pace, skill, character and goals for them, and one doubts that other teams would be any different.