DEFENDING champions South Korea and Pakistan cruised into the semi-finals of the Asian Games men’s field hockey with emphatic wins on Sunday.
Pakistan bounced back after the 3-2 loss to India a day earlier to outclass Bangladesh 6-1, while the Koreans whipped Singapore 12-1 in their last league matches.
India, who overcame a fighting Japan 3-2, topped group B with four straight wins and will play either Malaysia and China in Tuesday’s second semi-final.
Malaysia need a draw against the hosts later on Sunday to qualify as the second team from group A behind South Korea.
Pakistan face the Koreans in the first semi-final, also scheduled for Tuesday.
Veterans Shakeel Abbasi and Sohail Abbas fashioned Pakistan’s win over Bangladesh with two goals apiece, while Muhammad Imran also pumped in two penalty corners.
Abbasi put Pakistan ahead in the 13th minute with a brilliant reverse flick and Abbas increased the margin two minutes later with a stinging penalty corner.
Abbasi scored the third goal in the 27th with a superb run down the middle when he dribbled past three defenders and beat the advancing goalkeeper.
Abbas, who failed to score off the lone penalty corner his side earned against India, struck his second set-piece goal as Pakistan took a 4-0 lead by half-time.
Muhammad Imran converted two penalty corners in the second half, before Bangladesh earned a consolation goal through Taposh Barmon seven minutes before the final whistle.
“We took this match as if we were playing the final, because we must continue to win if we are to reach and win the final,” said the 35-year-old Abbas.
“Penalty corners are the most important part of modern hockey. Yesterday, India scored two of them while we missed and lost the game. That turned the game around.” The Koreans went on a rampage against Singapore, scoring five goals in the first half and another seven after resumption.
Seo Jong-ho and Nam Huyn-woo slammed hat-tricks, while Jang Jong-hyun found the target with two penalty corners.
You Hyo-sik, Kim Young-jin, Yeo Woon-kon and Yoon Sung-hoon were the other scorers for South Korea, even as Mohammad Yuhari narrowed the scoreline for Singapore.
Singapore bowed out of the competition with four successive defeats, while Bangladesh had one win and three defeats.
India, already assured of a place in the semi-finals, were stung by a 21st minute goal from Japan’s Hiroki Sakamoto.
Captain Rajpal Singh and penalty corner ace Sandeep Singh hit back for India on either side of the break, before Sandeep scored his second goal in the 62nd minute.
Sakamoto made it 2-3 seven minutes before the final whistle, but Japan failed to draw level.
RESULTS -- Men Group A: South Korea 12 (Seo Jong-ho 1, 13, 53, You Hyo-sik 20, Jang Jong-hyun 28, 65, Nam Hyun-woo 34, 45, 62, Kim Young-jin 44, Yeo Woon-kon 59, Yoon Sung-hoon 63) Singapore 1 (Mohammad Yuhari 22) H-t: 5-1.
Group B: Pakistan 6 (Shakeel Abbasi 13, 27, Sohail Abbas 15, 29, Muhammad Imran 37, 48) Bangladesh 1 (Taposh Barmon 63) H-t: 4-0.
India 3 (Rajpal Singh 31, Sandeep Singh 38, 62) Japan 2 (Hiroki Sakamoto 21, 63) H-t: 1-1.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Perak start with a stutter
SILVER medallists Perak scraped to a 4-3 victory against Selangor in Group B of the National Under-14 hockey tournament at the at the Universiti Sains Malaysia Stadium in Penang yesterday.
The silver state, who lost the title battle to Kuala Lumpur last year, took the lead off Zulhamizan Abas in the 12th minute, only to see Haikal Zamri equalise for Selangor.
Shaeimyrul Zzrecl again gave Perak the lead in the 29th minute, but Haikal was in his element and scored a penalty corner goal to draw Selangor level again.
However, Zulhamizan scored his brace in the 48th minute, while team-mate Alis Fauzal made it 4-2 in the 52nd minute.
Selangor made a late push and narrowed the gap to 3-4 in the 58th minute when Hafis Elkan was on target, but could not find the equaliser to share the spoils.
Defending champions Kuala Lumpur only had one point to show when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Terengganu in another Group A match.
Jagven Singh gave KL the leas in the 16th minute, but Firaz Tarmizi drew level in the 22nd minute and handed his team a crucial point.
Group A
P W D L F A Pts
Penang 1 1 0 0 5 0 3
Malacca 1 1 0 0 3 2 3
K Lumpur 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
Terengganu 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
Johor 1 0 0 1 2 3 0
Pahang 1 0 0 1 0 5 0
Singapore 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Group B
P W D L F A Pts
Perak 1 1 0 0 4 3 3
N Sembilan 1 1 0 0 4 0 3
Kedah 1 1 0 0 5 1 3
Selangor 1 0 0 1 3 4 0
Kelantan 1 0 0 1 1 5 0
Sarawak 1 0 0 1 0 4 0
RESULTS: Group B: Perak 4 Selangor 3, Kedah 5 Kelantan 1, Negri Sembilan 4 Sarawak 0.
Group A: Johor 2 Malacca 3, Penang 5 Pahang 0, Kuala Lumpur 1 Terengganu 1.
TODAY: Group A: Kuala Lumpur v Singapore (7.30am); Penang v Terengganu (9am); Johor v Pahang (3.30pm).
Group B: Perak v Sarawak (5pm); Negri Sembilan v Kelantan (6.30pm); Selangor v Kedah (8pm).
The silver state, who lost the title battle to Kuala Lumpur last year, took the lead off Zulhamizan Abas in the 12th minute, only to see Haikal Zamri equalise for Selangor.
Shaeimyrul Zzrecl again gave Perak the lead in the 29th minute, but Haikal was in his element and scored a penalty corner goal to draw Selangor level again.
However, Zulhamizan scored his brace in the 48th minute, while team-mate Alis Fauzal made it 4-2 in the 52nd minute.
Selangor made a late push and narrowed the gap to 3-4 in the 58th minute when Hafis Elkan was on target, but could not find the equaliser to share the spoils.
Defending champions Kuala Lumpur only had one point to show when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Terengganu in another Group A match.
Jagven Singh gave KL the leas in the 16th minute, but Firaz Tarmizi drew level in the 22nd minute and handed his team a crucial point.
Group A
P W D L F A Pts
Penang 1 1 0 0 5 0 3
Malacca 1 1 0 0 3 2 3
K Lumpur 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
Terengganu 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
Johor 1 0 0 1 2 3 0
Pahang 1 0 0 1 0 5 0
Singapore 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Group B
P W D L F A Pts
Perak 1 1 0 0 4 3 3
N Sembilan 1 1 0 0 4 0 3
Kedah 1 1 0 0 5 1 3
Selangor 1 0 0 1 3 4 0
Kelantan 1 0 0 1 1 5 0
Sarawak 1 0 0 1 0 4 0
RESULTS: Group B: Perak 4 Selangor 3, Kedah 5 Kelantan 1, Negri Sembilan 4 Sarawak 0.
Group A: Johor 2 Malacca 3, Penang 5 Pahang 0, Kuala Lumpur 1 Terengganu 1.
TODAY: Group A: Kuala Lumpur v Singapore (7.30am); Penang v Terengganu (9am); Johor v Pahang (3.30pm).
Group B: Perak v Sarawak (5pm); Negri Sembilan v Kelantan (6.30pm); Selangor v Kedah (8pm).
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Kazakhstan trio thrown out of Games
THREE Kazakhstan players have been thrown out of the Asian Games women's field hockey tournament after they admitted representing Belarus in a World Cup qualifier.
Asian Games organisers have awarded four of the matches to Kazakhstan's opponents with a score of 5-0 while retaining South Korea's scoreline because of a bigger victory margin.
Technical delegate Mathavas Deavadas said in a statement Saturday that Alessya Pyotukh, Yulliya Mikheichik and Anastassiya Chsherbakova "admitted they represented Belarus" at the Russian city of Kazan in April.
Kazakhstan won 3-0 against Thailand, but lost to South Korea (10-3), Japan (4-1), China (3-0) and Malaysia (4-2).
Kazakhstan plays its last preliminary round match against India on Saturday.
Asian Games organisers have awarded four of the matches to Kazakhstan's opponents with a score of 5-0 while retaining South Korea's scoreline because of a bigger victory margin.
Technical delegate Mathavas Deavadas said in a statement Saturday that Alessya Pyotukh, Yulliya Mikheichik and Anastassiya Chsherbakova "admitted they represented Belarus" at the Russian city of Kazan in April.
Kazakhstan won 3-0 against Thailand, but lost to South Korea (10-3), Japan (4-1), China (3-0) and Malaysia (4-2).
Kazakhstan plays its last preliminary round match against India on Saturday.
India beat Pakistan 3-2
SANDEEP Singh scored two goals as India stormed into the Asian Games men’s hockey semi-finals with a 3-2 win over Pakistan Saturday, their fourth success over their arch-rivals this year.
The penalty corner specialist slammed one in each half and Dharamvir Singh chipped in with the third goal as India recorded their third consecutive win in group B after an action-packed encounter.
India have nine points ahead of Sunday’s last league match against Japan, who are level with Pakistan on six points each.
India beat Pakistan 4-1 at the World Cup in March, won 4-2 in the Azlan Shah tournament in Malaysia in May and hammered the rivals 7-4 at last month’s Commonwealth Games.
“Winning four times in a row does not matter, this is not a series,” said Indian captain Rajpal Singh. “What is more important for me is that we play well in every match.
“Our strategy was simple. We had to attack from the start and not give Pakistan too many penalty corners.” Pakistan’s lone penalty corner, which came in the 58th minute, did not succeed as Indian goalkeeper Bharat Chetri leaped in the air to deflect Sohail Abbas’ stinging drag flick.
Pakistan captain Zeeshan Ashraf blasted the umpiring, saying poor decisions throughout the match cost his team the match.
“The umpires made the difference,” he said. “We should have got at least three or four more penalty corners.
“I don’t think there is any difference between the two teams. It was a close game that could have gone either way.
“India also got only three scoring chances in the entire game, but they converted all.” Pakistan’s Dutch coach Michel van den Heuvel, who watched the match from the stands, argued with the umpires and technical officials after the final whistle.
Zeeshan denied Pakistan will protest, but wanted his team to recover quickly from the defeat and prepare for the rest of the tournament.
“The main thing is we are still in contention for the gold medal,” he said.
"We will bounce back.” The match, watched by some 1,000 fans at the small Aoti Hockey Centre, began on a rousing note as Sandeep put India ahead in the second minute and striker Rehan Butt drew level for Pakistan in the fourth.
India took a 2-1 lead by half-time as Dharamvir swooped on a pass from the centre to flick the ball past the rushing goalkeeper Salman Akbar in the 16th minute.
An error from Indian defender Dhananjay Mahadik, who failed to clear a loose ball, allowed veteran Shakeel Abbasi to net Pakistan’s equaliser eight minutes into the second session.
India earned their second penalty corner five minutes later and Sandeep once again executed a perfect flick to make it 3-2.
Pakistan, who won the last of their seven Asian Games gold medals in Beijing in 1990, have not bagged a major title since the World Cup triumph in Sydney in 1994.
They face Bangladesh on Sunday, needing a win to move into the semi-finals.
The penalty corner specialist slammed one in each half and Dharamvir Singh chipped in with the third goal as India recorded their third consecutive win in group B after an action-packed encounter.
India have nine points ahead of Sunday’s last league match against Japan, who are level with Pakistan on six points each.
India beat Pakistan 4-1 at the World Cup in March, won 4-2 in the Azlan Shah tournament in Malaysia in May and hammered the rivals 7-4 at last month’s Commonwealth Games.
“Winning four times in a row does not matter, this is not a series,” said Indian captain Rajpal Singh. “What is more important for me is that we play well in every match.
“Our strategy was simple. We had to attack from the start and not give Pakistan too many penalty corners.” Pakistan’s lone penalty corner, which came in the 58th minute, did not succeed as Indian goalkeeper Bharat Chetri leaped in the air to deflect Sohail Abbas’ stinging drag flick.
Pakistan captain Zeeshan Ashraf blasted the umpiring, saying poor decisions throughout the match cost his team the match.
“The umpires made the difference,” he said. “We should have got at least three or four more penalty corners.
“I don’t think there is any difference between the two teams. It was a close game that could have gone either way.
“India also got only three scoring chances in the entire game, but they converted all.” Pakistan’s Dutch coach Michel van den Heuvel, who watched the match from the stands, argued with the umpires and technical officials after the final whistle.
Zeeshan denied Pakistan will protest, but wanted his team to recover quickly from the defeat and prepare for the rest of the tournament.
“The main thing is we are still in contention for the gold medal,” he said.
"We will bounce back.” The match, watched by some 1,000 fans at the small Aoti Hockey Centre, began on a rousing note as Sandeep put India ahead in the second minute and striker Rehan Butt drew level for Pakistan in the fourth.
India took a 2-1 lead by half-time as Dharamvir swooped on a pass from the centre to flick the ball past the rushing goalkeeper Salman Akbar in the 16th minute.
An error from Indian defender Dhananjay Mahadik, who failed to clear a loose ball, allowed veteran Shakeel Abbasi to net Pakistan’s equaliser eight minutes into the second session.
India earned their second penalty corner five minutes later and Sandeep once again executed a perfect flick to make it 3-2.
Pakistan, who won the last of their seven Asian Games gold medals in Beijing in 1990, have not bagged a major title since the World Cup triumph in Sydney in 1994.
They face Bangladesh on Sunday, needing a win to move into the semi-finals.
Standings as of Friday
Asian Games MEN
GROUP A
P W D L F A Pt
MALAYSIA 3 2 1 0 17 4 7
S KOREA 3 2 1 0 13 3 7
CHINA 3 2 0 1 10 3 6
OMAN 4 1 0 3 4 28 3
SINGAPORE 3 0 0 3 1 7 0
GROUP B
P W D L F A Pt
PAKISTAN 2 2 0 0 20 2 6
INDIA 2 2 0 0 16 0 6
JAPAN 2 1 0 1 5 9 3
BANGLADESH 3 1 0 2 8 15 3
HONG KONG 3 0 0 3 3 26 0
WOMEN
P W D L F A Pt
S KOREA 4 4 0 0 20 3 12
CHINA 4 4 0 0 25 1 12
JAPAN 4 3 0 1 12 6 9
INDIA 4 2 0 2 17 4 6
MALAYSIA 5 1 0 4 6 20 3
KAZAKHSTAN 5 1 0 4 9 21 3
THAILAND 4 0 0 4 0 34 0
GROUP A
P W D L F A Pt
MALAYSIA 3 2 1 0 17 4 7
S KOREA 3 2 1 0 13 3 7
CHINA 3 2 0 1 10 3 6
OMAN 4 1 0 3 4 28 3
SINGAPORE 3 0 0 3 1 7 0
GROUP B
P W D L F A Pt
PAKISTAN 2 2 0 0 20 2 6
INDIA 2 2 0 0 16 0 6
JAPAN 2 1 0 1 5 9 3
BANGLADESH 3 1 0 2 8 15 3
HONG KONG 3 0 0 3 3 26 0
WOMEN
P W D L F A Pt
S KOREA 4 4 0 0 20 3 12
CHINA 4 4 0 0 25 1 12
JAPAN 4 3 0 1 12 6 9
INDIA 4 2 0 2 17 4 6
MALAYSIA 5 1 0 4 6 20 3
KAZAKHSTAN 5 1 0 4 9 21 3
THAILAND 4 0 0 4 0 34 0
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