Korea defeat Pakistan by 2-1 to reach into the finals of Under-18 Junior Asia Cup
The Under-18 Korean Junior men hockey team has surprisingly trounced Pakistan by 2-1 today and qualified into the finals of the Under-18 Junior Asia Cup, which is currently underway at the Sengkang Stadium, Singapore.
The match went head-to-head until the last few minutes, however, Korea sneaked out of the scores levelled at 1-1 and received their leading goal within the last ten minutes of the play.
In the first half, Pakistan was dominating over Korea with their offensive strategy with the ball control and passes among the front-line.
Pakistan earned a number of penalty-corner in the beginning that were denied by the Korean defence, however, Pakistan finally opened up with a score when Waseem Abbas converted one of the penalty-corner to lead the score at 1-0.
After almost fifteen minutes, the match seemed to pace up with pressure building from the trailing side, as they reached Pakistan’s defensive circle to attempt a shot, but failed to score an equaliser.
The match in no time was found taking side of the Korean team when they took control of the ball and proceeded to attack the title defenders.
Until the last five minutes, Pakistan was back in power when the strikers managed to constrain the Korean juniors to struggle within their half-side, preventing them from making any further attacks. The first half concluded at 1-0.
In the second half, Korea opened up with a stronger display when they counter-attacked the Pakistan circle, but could not find an equaliser.
On the other hand, Korea’s defence proved stronger this time when they comfortably denied the potential attempts made by the opponent team.
In efforts for an equalizer, Korea earned a penalty-corner that was beautifully converted into a goal and the scores were levelled at 1-1.
In no time, Pakistan made a counter-attack and earned a penalty-corner that was again taken up by Waseem, but to no avail.
Korea replied back with a close call in a penalty-corner award that was well-saved by Pakistan’s goal-keeper. However, they luckily made it with their lead score at 2-1, with just four minutes left in the game.
Despite efforts, Pakistan failed to equalise and the match closed with an astonishing win for Korea at 2-1, thus, qualifying into the finals.
Meanwhile, the second semi-final is underway between the host team Singapore and Malaysia.
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