Asia Cup Hockey: Draw against S Korea douses Indian hopes

Jakarta: In a tough match against South Korea, India picked a draw 4-4 and fell from the race to win the Asia Cup Hockey 2022 tournament here on Tuesday. S Korea entered the finals with the upper hand in goal difference, and they will take on Malaysia in the final match.

Both India and S Korea brought outstanding performances throughout the match. In the 8th minute, Nilam Sanjeep scored and gave India the lead. But Korea hit back with two goals, and it was in the 20th minute that Maninder Singh put the equalizer inside.

Though Sheshe Gowda scored for India a minute later, S Korea's Kim Junghoo levelled the scores in the 27th minute. India's Mareeswaran Shakthivel scored in the third quarter and put a lead again. But Jung Manjae made a clean finish from an excellent pass and levelled the score again just before the fourth quarter.

In the last quarter, India shifted gears to a full-fledged attack, but the S Korean squad fielded all their players in their half to restrain India from scoring, and no goals were scored in that quarter.

India will now play for the third position against Japan.