Ipoh (Malaysia): India’s perennial problem of conceding goals at the fag end of a match hurt them again as Korea equalised in the final minute for a 1-1 draw in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament here Sunday.
India took the lead in the 28th minute through Mandeep Singh and looked set to earn their second consecutive win of the six-team tournament, but a defensive error led to Jonghyun Jang scoring from a penalty corner just 22 seconds from the final hooter.
India won their second penalty corner in the initial minutes of the second quarter but the drag-flick was saved by the Korean goalkeeper. The following minutes saw Korea execute the full-press to limit India’s circle entries.
Though the tactic was good, they lost three players to green cards that reduced their strength to eight players. The situation was capitalised by India as they found easy gaps to make circle entry and the experienced Mandeep Singh struck the first goal for India in the 28th minute.
India kept a good structure, relied on strong defence with precise marking and constantly pushed the Korean defence to make forays into the striking circle. Playing in rain after the third quarter began, a defensive error on India’s part saw Korea being awarded their first penalty corner of the match. But India’s rusher Amit Rohidas did well to ward off the danger.
With a little over eight minutes remaining for the final hooter, the game was stopped due to rain. When play resumed, Korea put up an attacking front to win back-to-back penalty corners, but did not get any success.
With 53 seconds remaining, Korea won another penalty corner, but Jonghyun Jang’s powerful drag-flick was brilliantly saved by India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh. A referral by Korea saw them being awarded another penalty corner and this time, Jang was on target.
