Korea impressive, India flop

ASIAN champions South Korea made short work of African champions Egypt when they went on a six-goal rampage in the curtain raiser of the 19th Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh yesterday.
However, in another match, China almost had the three points in the bag, but let in a goal 17 seconds from regulation time to share the spoils at 1-1 with India.
The Koreans played at a slow pace in the searing 4pm heat, but still managed to score four goals in the first half.
Nam Hyun Woo started the rout with a fifth minute penalty corner and Kim Young Jin made it 2-0 with a 12th minute penalty corner.
Two more penalty corners saw Nam on target again in the 28th minute, while Lee Nam Yong deflected in a set-piece in the 35th minute after the hooter went off.
In the second half, You Hyo Sik finally scored the first fireld goal of the match in a 39th minute soft attempt.
The Koreans went on to raise their tally to six when Nam completed his hat-trick in the 59th minute.
In the second match, India were a jaded side, and after an initial push for five minutes, they ran out of ideas and took pot shots from the 25-yard line expecting the Chinese to make mistakes in the semi-circle.
But, the China defenders made very few mistakes, and in the 13th minute, India were shocked when Sun Tianjun scored a field goal and the score remained until the breather.
And the Indians continued their clueless strategy after the breather, while China defended with numbers and relied on counter-attacks to increase the lead.
However, with 17 seconds left on the scoreboard clock, India nailed the equaliser when Ravi Pal scored off a goalmouth melee.
China coach Zhuang Xiaodong could not accept the fact that the equaliser came so late in the match.
"The match was very interesting because India were the dominant side and we had to defend for most of the 70 minutes. I expected India to score earlier, but 17 seconds on the clock was a total heartbreak," said Zhuang.
India assistant coach Clarence Lobo blamed his chaqrges of playing too much in the centre.
"The attack was mostly from the centre when it should have been from the flanks. However, one point is better than a defeat."