By T.S.V. Hari, IANS
Chennai : India sailed into the finals of the BSNL Asia Cup Hockey Tournament beating Japan 4-1 at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here Saturday.
The hosts will now meet Asian Games champions South Korea in the finals to be played here Sunday.
India played true to form and defeated the machinations of Japan who played fast and furious. The half-time score read 2-0 in favour of India.
While Prabhjot Singh scored a brace, Shivendra and Roshan Minz scored a goal each for the hosts.
Japanese penalty corner specialist Yamabori scored the loan goal for the visitors.
Indians played pristine hockey weaving around the defences of the Japanese and taking them by surprise.
Talking about the finals, Indian coach Joaquim Carvalho maintained that South Korea are a difficult team to beat though India did precisely that a few days ago.
“We will try doing it again tomorrow,” Carvalho said.
Earlier, in the first semi-final, the South Koreans just about managed to prevail over Malaysia who went down fighting 1-2 in the final analysis.
In the first-half the Far Eastern tigers went ahead quickly scoring through defender Oh Dae Keun. He managed to steer the ball into the net from a free hit off Jan Jong Hyun.
Three minutes into the second half Malaysia equalised through the efforts of Azion Misran.
The South Koreans finally scored the winner through Yoon Sung Hoon with 10 minutes left for the final hooter.