India held, Pakistan beaten

Archrivals India and Pakistan got off to contrasting starts in the Super 4s stage of the Hero Asia Cup as India were held to a 1-1 draw by South Korea while Pakistan suffered a 3-2 defeat against Malaysia at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium yesterday.

India found it hard against the four-time champions and eventually needed a 59th minute goal to salvage a point against the Koreans, who looked confident and determined and put up a much better performance compared to the group stage matches.

Both sides fought neck and neck throughout the game but hardly produced clear-cut chances in the first two quarters. However, South Korea had the upper hand as they had better movements and speedy runs and broke the deadlock in the third quarter through a clever strike from Lee Jungjun in the 41st minute.

Kim Youngjin unleashed a fierce push from outside the circle and Jungjun brilliantly received the ball with two Indian defenders behind him before deceiving the defenders with a scoop into the far post.

India pressed hard but hardly exposed the Korean defence before two-time champions eventually found the equlaiser from a goal-mouth melee, with unmarked Gurjat Singh scoring from a rebound in the 59th minute.     

In the day's first match, three-time champions Pakistan, who came into the match on the back of a 3-1 drubbing at the hands of India, took the lead twice but eventually lost against Malaysia, who had come into the Super 4s with an all-win record.

Experienced Muhammad Umar Bhutta opened the scoring with the fastest goal of the tournament, controlling a fierce push from Mohammad Irfan inside the circle before smashing a reverse-hit to beat Malaysian goalkeeper Subramiam Kumar in the 22nd second.

However, Pakistan surrendered the lead in the 10th minute, with Razie Rahim converting a penalty corner but Pakistan restored the margin nine minutes later through Muhammad Yaqoob.

Shahril Saabah brought Malaysia back in the match again in the 25th minute. Saari Fitri finally wrapped up the victory in the 34th minute by converting a penalty stroke as the referee did not hesitate to make the decision after Pakistan goalkeeper brought down Samsul Haziq.

Meanwhile, in the day's third match, Japan came from behind to beat Oman 5-3. Japan will now play Friday's 5th-6th position deciding match against today's winners between Bangladesh and China while Oman will take on the losers between Bangladesh and China on the same day.