SOUTH Korea came prepared for a win, and they followed their coaches script to edge India 2-1 in Ipoh yesterday.
After losing 3-2 to Malaysia, Korea held a good account of themselves and denied India, who dominated the second half with six penalty corners, but were frustrated by speedy first runners.
"We knew the strength of the India side, and we came prepared to block their penalty corners and also some of their key players. It worked and we got their three points to keep our campaign alive," said Korean coach Shin Seok Kyo.
India coach kept to the same script, as he said they are in an ongoing process to strengthen their juniors side.
"We came with 10 Junior World Cup players and their inexperience showed in the first half, but they came back strongly in the second half but could not conveert. We are building a young side, so the result was not too bad," said India coach Michael Nobbs.
The Koreans dominated proceedings and the agile Indian custodian P.R. Sreejest kept them at bay, making some saves that were almost impossible to pull off.
Korea made it count from their second penalty corner as Nam Hyun Woo relayed the ball to the right for Kang Moon Kweon to deflect it into the roof of the India goal in the 29th minute.
Although Korea were awarded two more penalty corner in the closing minutes of the first half, they could not add to their tally.
India were on level terms four minutes upon resumption, thanks to some great work by Mandeep Singh on the right who evaded two defenders before setting up Malak Singh to tap into an empty goal.
However, India went down in the 60th minute when Kang scored his second goal when he connected a long hit from Jung Man Jae.
RESULTS: Australia 6 Pakistan 0, South Korea 2 India 1, Malaysia x New Zealand x.
STANDINGS
P W D L F A Pts
AUSTRALIA 2 2 0 0 10 3 6
PAKISTAN 2 1 0 1 4 9 3
MALAYSIA 1 1 0 0 3 2 3
INDIA 2 0 0 2 4 6 0
N ZEALAND 1 0 0 1 3 4 0
KOREA 2 1 0 1 4 4 3
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Australia 6 Pakistan 0
After struggling 4-3 against India on Saturday, the Aussies were in no mood to entertain the Pakistan players who felt the full brunt of their powerful attack.
The margin was only eclipsed by their own record against Pakistan, a 7-0 drubbing in the London Olympics last year.
Yesterday, it took the Aussies only 17 minutes to open a 3-0 lead, and that snuffed the fighting spirit in the Pakistanis.
Australia took the lead in the eigtht minute through Daniel Mirecki who picked up a loose ball in the semi circle to smash it home with the Pakistan defenders caught flat footed, with keeper Imran Butt out of position.
And in the very next minute Matt Ghodes placed the ball into the corner of the Pakistani goal when all were expecting him to make a pass.
The script turned from bad to worse for Pakistan, as they conceded a third in the 17th minute, this time Jacob Whetton sneaked in behind the defense to deflect a pass from Matt Ghodes into the roof of the net.
And a minute before the halftime hooter, Australia netted their fourth, with Whetton getting his stick onto a long ball out of defence to steer it past Imran.
Daniel Beale made it 5-0 in the 45th minute, getting the final touch from a penalty corner attempt by Nicholas Budgeon.
Pakistan were a beaten side and it showed as the players kept looking at the clock, hoping for an end to their misery.
Nicholas converted a penalty corner in the 61st minute to make it 6-0.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Revington's take on the Korean win..
"However, the last five minutes of the match belonged to us and this is a welcome chance from the past where we normally give away easy goals in the tail end of the match," said Malaysian coach Paul Revington.
Chua Boon Huat delivers for Malaysia..
MALAYSIA needed the tonic from 11-time Azlan Shah Cup veteran Chua Boon Huat to beat South Korea 3-2 in a highly entertaining match in Ipoh yesterday.
After taking the lead, Malaysia allowed Korea to claw back in, but Chua's brace saved the blushes for the hosts.
The parking bays were full, and the Azlan Shah Stadium was reverberating with deafening sounds of vuvuzelas as the fans cheered Malaysia to start on the right footing.
And there were some magical early moments, only for the final connect to go haywire as experienced players like Chua Boon Huat, his 11th Azlan Shah Cup, missed.
And after 12 minutes, coach Paul Revington brought in Baljit Singh to defend and Faizal Saari and to attack, together with Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, as the Koreans looked like they had settled issues with their jittery start.
And by the 18th minute, Malaysia were down to nine-men as Baljit and Razie Rahim, both defenders, were shown the green card but the Koreans could not capatalise on the situation.
Malaysian finally won their first penalty corner in the 20th minute when Shukri Mutalib was brought down by Lee Seung Hoon.
The Korean runners were focused on Razie, the No 1 flicker, but the ball was pushed towards Faizal Shaari who almost tore the netting for the first goal of the tournament.
And as the half-time hooter blew, Malaysia had the lions's share of possession but only one goal to show, while the Koreans did not even win a single penalty corner or a shot at goal.
After the restart, Malaysia were again blunt in finishing off their chances, while the Koreans had started making inroads by the 50th minute.
The script changed in the 57th minute when Korea won their first penalty corner and Nam Hyun Woo made it count to equalise.
But the veteran Boon Huat almost saved the day with a reverse stick goal in the 68th minute only to see Yoon Sung Hoon equalise in the 69th minute.
But Boon Huat, refused to share points and deflected the winner in the 70th minute to send the crowd into wild celebrations.
In another match, World No 2 Australia struggled to beat India, even after taking a 3-0 lead, only to win by a slim 4-3 margin.
Asutralia created an early cushion with goals from Matt Ghodes (24th, 39th) and Glenn Simpson (38th) and even though India fought back gallantly, Trent Mitton's 53rd minute goal denied them.
The India goals was scored by Rupinder Pal Singh (40th, 68th) and Malak Singh (51st).
Malaysia play New Zealand today, and Kiwi coach Colin Batch said: "It will be interesting against Malaysia tomorrow (today) as we played them twice already this week ( NZ won 3-2 then lost 3-2) but this is the one that counts, and we aim to win it this time around.
"The noise level affected the players and I expect it to be higher tmorrow and the players need to adapt."
In the first match of the day, Pakistan beat defending champions New Zealand 4-3.
A hat-trick from Muhammad Imran (19th, 28th, 58th) and Abdul Haseem Khan's (21st) goal handed them the three points.
New Zealand, down 3-0, fought back to level at 3-3 with goals Kane Russel (30th), Blair Tarrant (52nd) and Andy Hayward (56th); but Pakistan ruled the day.
RESULTS: New Zealand 3 Pakistan 4, Australia 4 India 3, Malaysia 3 South Korea 2.
STANDINGS
P W D L F A Pts
AUSTRALIA 1 1 0 0 4 3 3
PAKISTAN 1 1 0 0 4 3 3
MALAYSIA 1 1 0 0 3 2 3
INDIA 1 0 0 1 3 4 0
N ZEALAND 1 0 0 1 3 4 0
KOREA 1 0 0 1 2 3 0
Australia beat India 4-3
Asutralia created an early cushion with goals from Matt Ghodes (24th, 39th) and Glenn Simpson (38th) and even though India fought back gallantly, Trent Mitton's 53rd minute goal denied them.
The India goals was scored by Rupinder Pal Singh (40th, 68th) and Malak Singh (51st).
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