Field Hockey: India Labor to Send China into Final

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, October 10, 2002

Field Hockey: India Labor to Send China into Final

India lost to Japan 3-2 in Asian Games women's hockey group tie to send China into the final against South Korea.

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India lost to Japan 3-2 in Asian Games women's hockey group tie to send China into the final against South Korea.

India, who were the last in the four-team group, appeared unadapted to the fast-pace of the other side before they conceded a goal in the 19th minute through penalty corner.

India answered with another penalty corner strike in the 59th minute before Japan went ahead with a field goal four minutes later.

India, with surprisingly high fighting spirit, pulled the score level again two minutes later with a well-organized field strike.

But India, losing both the previous matches, still failed to avoid another loss as Japan was awarded a penalty corner in the last minute and converted it into a goal to win the match 3-2.

As South Korea and China, who earned the same points as Japan, lead on the goal difference, the victorious Japanese were eliminated.

Indian coach Gurdiyal Bhangu was satisfied with his players but had many complaints about the South Korean judge on the court.

"I think the goal in the second half was not justified," said Bhangu.

"My players did well today except the first goal conceded owing to a defensive loophole but otherwise they did well." he added.

"Generally Japan is an easier rival than China, who claimed the world champions trophy recently. Even South Korea are worrying about them."

Earlier, world champions China defeated defending champions South Korea 2-0 but had to wait for the result of Japan-India clash to decide their future.

The situation was that if Japan won with a two goal margin or more, China would be out of the final due to their loss to Japan 2-1. Otherwise China and the host would vie for the title.

Pushed to the corner, Chinese players were on offense right from the start with their trademark tireless running to push the other side into their own defense area.

They narrowly missed a shot in the second minute through a penalty corner which made defending champions South Koreans sweat.

Their all-out attack was rewarded thirteen minutes into the first half when a penalty corner was carried out by Chinese players before Zhou Wanfeng got around the rushing defense line toscore from behind.

China's attacking streak continued in the second half when they created chaos before the other side's goalline in the eighth minutes through two penalty corners.

Four minutes from time, Chinese players found another opportunity and captain Chen Zhaoxia converted the last penalty corner of the match to leave the host team defeated 2-0.

"I am satisfied with my players, who tried their best today," said Kim Chang Back, former assistant coach of South Korean team, who was invited to China in 2000.

"As we need to win more goals, the players became too hasty, which made them miss a lot of chances."

"We well prepared for the match and were confident in victory. But there were still many things out of my control," said Kim.

The turning point of China-South Korea clash came last year when China beat the latter twice in friendlies with results 1-0 and 6-1 as never before, which filled Chinese players with confidence to claim victory again.

"South Korea have made a lot of changes to their team since last year but remain on world level. We clinched the victory but it was not easy."

China and South Korea would play for the title on October 11 while India and Japan compete in the third-place playoff.

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