Sunday, September 09, 2007

India decimate Korea - Win Asia Cup Hockey

indian hockey players
India beat Korea today in the finals of the Asia Cup Hockey at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai. In a tense final which saw tempers flaring up on both sides, the resolute Indian side beat Korea by a huge margin of 7-2. The winners were leading 3-1 at half-time.


Shortly after the half-time, a Korean goal was rightly disallowed by the umpire as the ball had been clearly hit from outside the D. However, Korea took their protests to ridiculous proportions with the Korean coach even pulling out the team off the turf. The match was stalled for a few minutes and it looked like India would be awarded the match. However better sense prevailed and the Koreans returned to the turf shortly after.


Prabhjot Singh was the star of the Indian performance with Bimal Lakra also putting in a sterling performance. Mention must also be made of the Indian goalie, Baljit Singh Dhillon who stood rock-solid in front of the Indian goal thwarting the Korean attack time and again.


This has been Indian hockey's best performance in years and should hopefully spur them on to greater heights. However the Indian Hockey Federation led by the almost-insane KPS Gill has been famous for making mess of the team soon after every ascendancy - and it remains to be seen whether they let this wonderful team remain united after this triumph.

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