Asia Cup Hockey: India’s title hopes dashed after dropping 2-3 to Korea in semifinal

The Indian ladies’s hockey crew’s hopes of defending the Asia Cup title went up in smoke as Korea secured a come-from-behind 2-3 win to qualify for the ultimate of the continental occasion on the Sultan Qaboos Complex right here on Wednesday.
India began brightly and took the lead within the twenty eighth minute via Vandana Katariya earlier than Korea made a superb comeback after the change of ends and scored thrice via skipper Enubi Cheon (thirty first), Seung Ju Lee (forty fifth) and Hyejin Cho (forty seventh) to stun the holders.
India will now play the loser of the second semifinal between Japan and China within the third-fourth place play-off match on Friday.

An amazing battle on the sector💯#WorkforceIndia gave all of it until the tip however not the consequence we wished.
🇰🇷 3:2 🇮🇳#IndiaKaGame #WAC2022 pic.twitter.com/SM5d68Zbi3
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) January 26, 2022
If the primary two quarters belonged to India, the Koreans dominated the sport after the half time break.
India earned a penalty nook early on within the first quarter however Gurjit Kaur’s flick was saved by the Korean goalkeeper.
Minutes later Shamila Devi’s reverse hit from prime of the circle flew inches over the aim.
Lalremsiami gave India the lead quickly from shut vary however the aim was disallowed due to a foul contained in the circle.

📸 | Have a have a look at some footage from our semi-final conflict towards Korea! #IndiaKaGame #WAC2022 pic.twitter.com/EHl5ZDJyRv
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) January 26, 2022
Seconds from the tip of the primary quarter, Vandana’s reverse hit strive was saved from shut vary by the Korean custodian.
The Indians got here shut twice and had been by far the higher aspect on show however didn’t translate their probabilities into objectives.
The Koreans regarded harmful on the counter however the Indian defence was as much as the duty.
In the second quarter Korea secured their first penalty nook however didn’t breach the Indian defence as skipper Savita produced a double save.

Two minutes from the breather, India secured back-to-back penalty corners and Vandana this time scored with a rebound from the second set piece to provide the defending champions a 1-0 lead at half time.
The Koreans got here out a very totally different aspect after the breather and drew parity within the thirty first minute when Cheon scored a scrappy aim from a penalty nook after the preliminary shot was saved by Savita.
Poor penalty nook conversion price India dearly as as soon as once more Gurjit was off track.
Just on the stroke of the third quarter, Korea stunned India by taking the lead via Lee as Savita made a multitude of a routine save.

Two minutes into the fourth and closing quarter, Korea made it 3-1 of their favour when Cho pushed within the ball previous an off-balance Savita after receiving a move from Hyejeong Shin.
With time operating out, Lalremsiami decreased the margin for India six minutes from the hooter, guiding in Vandana’s excessive ball nevertheless it was too little too late.