South Korea defeat India, 2-1 to lock fifth place in the 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup: Hockey Recap
South Korea and India, the two joint winners of the last edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, faced each other in the play-off game for the fifth and sixth spot respectively, with South Korea coming out victorious at 2-1.
The start and end of the Indian squad in the 20th Azlan Shah Cup were disappointing, as they received defeats from South Korea in the two matches. After defeating India by a solitary goal, the South Korean team secured the fifth place in the invitational.
India, in the absence of senior players, could only manage a sixth position in the event. It was a major drawback for the Indian team, who were looking to complete their hat-trick of the Azlan Shah titles.
The incoherent Indian squad failed to show a competitive game against the Korean side, who are standing sixth in the world ranking. Despite getting a number of chances, they failed to avail any of the attempts in the play-off game. Defence was the mainly
weaker part from the Indian side that failed to deny the strikes from the opponent's side.
The Koreans established their early dominance with the ball control and earned their first short corner in the 11th minute of the game. Nam Hyun Woo struck an impressive drag-flicking shot at the Indian goal-post with giving opponent's goalie
no chance to block the strike. In a counter-offence, Shivendra Singh failed to cash a sitter in the 12th minute of the match, as it could have changed the face of the score-board.
In a matter of four minutes, the Indian team received their first short-corner, but they failed to make it productive. South Korea earned their second short corner in the 21st minute that was attempted by Jang Jong Hyun. He unleashed a powerful
shot to past Indian goalie, getting the lead up to two scores, 2-0.
In another effort, the Korean team carried out a strike in the 30th minute of the game, but Diwakar made a dive to clear the ball from the 25-yard line. The first half of play completed with Korea sitting on top by two goals, 2-0.
Vishnu Vikram Pillay scored a goal in the 41st minute of the match before missing a sure-goal chance at the start of the second period. In a matter of two minutes, India found another chance to level the score, but to no avail. Shivendra was the
player, who failed to capitalise the opportunity.
In the remaining time period, the Indian players attempted to get into the game, but failed to do so. Korea with the final horn succeeded to get the fifth position in the Azlan Shah Cup.
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