In their first Super4 encounter in the men’s Asia Cup hockey tournament in Rajgir, Bihar, India missed numerous opportunities to settle for a 2-2 draw against the reigning champions, Korea, on Wednesday.
The Koreans put up a strong defense to secure a well-deserved draw, but the Indians were clearly the superior team in terms of possession and opportunities. Each team received a point.
Jihun Yang (12th) and Hyeonhong Kim (14th) scored goals for Korea, while Hardik Singh (8th) and Mandeep Singh (53rd) scored for India. India’s next match is against Malaysia, and Korea’s next match is against China on Thursday.
A severe downpour shortly before the first whistle caused the India-Korea match to be delayed by about fifty minutes. Hardik’s deft dribbles and solo runs made him an immediate star for India in the midfield.
In the second minute, India earned their first penalty corner. In the seventh minute, the home team was awarded consecutive penalty corners, but they were unable to get past the Korean defense.
However, Hardik gave India a well-earned lead a minute later. Hardik dribbled past four to five Korean players after Sukhjeet Singh stole the ball on the half-line and gave it to him. Hardik then put the ball past the goalkeeper to give his team the lead. However, India’s careless defense allowed Korea to level the score in the twelfth minute.
Jihun Yang made no mistake when Jugraj Singh purposefully shoved a Korean player within the circle, earning a penalty stroke. Hyeonhong Kim’s flick of the ball past Indian custodian Krishan Bahadur Pathak’s extended left leg during their first penalty corner two minutes later further aggravated India’s situation.
The South Koreans played excellent zonal hockey to hold their opponents at bay, and the second goal appeared to have upset the Indians a little. The Korean defense was unwavering, despite the Indians’ occasional attempts to get through the circle.
An alert Korean goalkeeper, Jaehan Kim, stopped Jarmanpreet Singh’s slap effort from the right after he received a pass from captain Harmanpreet Singh in the 24th minute, sending India into halftime trailing 1-2.
Following the change of ends, Korea made every effort to slow down the game and was happy to keep possession as India applied intense pressure without causing any damage.
India had a fantastic opportunity to tie the score in the 41st minute, but an unmarked Sukhjeet Singh missed the mark after Manpreet Singh’s inch-perfect pass. Abhishek reversed from just inches outside the goal a few minutes later.
The Indians had again another excellent opportunity, but Abhishek was unable to make a good connection and missed the mark even though there was just the goalkeeper to beat. India secured their fourth penalty corner seconds from the end of the third quarter, but the Korean defense stopped Harmanpreet’s attempt.
In the fourth and fifth quarters, the Indians created numerous opportunities, but the forwardline wasted them by making a simple mistake inside the striking circle. In the 49th minute, India’s intense pressure led to another penalty corner, but the Korean first runner stopped Jugraj’s strong flick. Mandeep Singh soon created another opportunity, but custodian Kim palmed away his reverse hit.
When Mandeep was in the right position at the right time to push in Sukhjeet’s assist to tie the score, the Korean defense finally gave way under constant pressure. Amit Rohidas’ attempt went wide seconds after India grabbed another penalty corner. In an attempt to find the winner, the Indians unsuccessfully persisted in applying pressure until the final whistle.
