South Korea lifts the third Junior Asia Cup beating Malaysia by 3-1 in the final
The third edition of the Junior Asia Cup hockey tournament concluded in Sengkang Hockey Stadium in Singapore, where South Korea defeated Malaysia by 3-1 to lift the trophy and become the new Junior Asian Champions, on June 26.
On the other side the Malaysian coach, K Gobinathan, looked very disappointed on the defeat and also was very unhappy with the performance of his team in the final.
The South Koreans entered in the final as the favourite and the final result was as expected. South Korea played very well throughout the tournament and won all of its matches at the group stages except one against Malaysia which ended in a draw by 2-2.
Their performance in the semi-final against the defending champions, Pakistan, was remarkable as they defeated the Greenshirts, who scored record 53 goals in four matches without conceding a single one, by 2-1.
The semi-final victory was the morale-booster for the South Koreans and they displayed a very clinical and impressive performance in the final.
“Champions must have determination and with our lackadaisical attitude, we won’t go far. We failed to convert our chances and it cost us dearly in the final. When you fail to finish your chances in a final you will be punished,” K Gobinathan shared his views
on the defeat in the final. “We are still not good enough to be the Asian Champions in this category. We clearly need more training,” he further explained after the match.
The Malaysian coach also looked quite unsatisfied over some of the umpiring decisions in the final.
“Some questionable umpiring decision also was the cause of our defeat. We play much better against Korea compared to the semi-final against Singapore,” the coach, K Gobinathan stated about the standard of umpiring in the important final.
South Korea got the control over the game very early and maintained a good pressure over the rivals that paid for them in the 11th minute, when Kim Ji-woon scored the opener for the Koreans, while the lead was doubled five minutes before the interval
when KIM Ji-woon made his double strike. The third and the final goal was scored in the second half by Jeoung Young-seok.
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