By T.S.V. Hari, IANS
Chennai : It was virtually a walk in the park for India who convincingly beat South Korea with an amazing score of 7-2 to retain the BSNL Asia Cup men’s hockey title here Sunday.
Yet, there were moments at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium that threatened to take the game away.
There was a minor scuffle at halftime – when the score read 3-1 – and South Korean player Cha Jong Bok had to be taken away in a stretcher after what seemed like an inadvertent blow from an Indian player’s stick.
A little later, the visitors almost walked out of the game after Indians were allowed their fourth goal while the South Koreans weren’t allowed their second.
India went ahead in the fourth minute through Shivendra Singh who collected a pass from the flank and sent the ball flying into the South Korean goalpost.
The joy was short-lived when umpire Chen Dekan of China signalled a penalty stroke against India five minutes later.
Jang Jong Hyun didn’t make any mistake and South Korea equalised.
The Indian team went into an all-out offensive four minutes later and found the goal through the effort of S.V. Sunil.
Galvanised into action, the South Koreans tightened their defences and kept the hosts at bay for the next 18 minutes.
Then came waves and weaves between Sardar Singh, Tushar Kandeker and Prabhjot Singh that resulted in India’s third goal.
India struggled for seven minutes while playing the second half but soon enough Rajpal Singh rammed the ball home, making it 4-1.
At the 53rd minute it was Ignace Tirkey’s turn to do the South Koreans in – through another field goal that had taken the match away from the visitors.
But the hosts weren’t prepared to rest on their laurels. Rajpal Singh and Prabhjot Singh troubled the scorers in the 64th and the 68th minute respectively.
Apart from the penalty stroke, Oh Dae Keun reduced the margin a wee bit further for the South Koreans.
After the match, South Korean coach Cho Myung Jun said eight of his players were down with diarrhoea and were feeling weak.
He also alleged that at one stage he suspected that umpire Dekan was “playing for India”.
Even as the visitors were looking for excuses to explain their humiliating defeat, Indian coach Joaquim Carvalho was magnanimous.
“I have played several matches in which our opponents have managed to equalise after being 4 down. So, I kept the boys on their toes till the final hooter was blown,” Carvalho said.