ASIA CUP HOCKEY live blog: India women lose to Korea 2-1, World Cup dreams over
Ritu Rani's lone goal not enough as Korea ride twin strikes early in the first half. The Asia Cup champions qualify for the World Cup next year.
- NDTVSports
- Updated: September 26, 2013 03:29 PM IST
14:59 (IST)India women finish on the losing side. The scoreline remains 2-1 in Korea's favour. India's dream of a World Cup berth next year shattered.
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14:39 (IST) India score their first goal in the 41st minute. The mercurial Ritu Rani converts a penalty corner. Ritu scored seven goals in the first match against Hong Kong China. India had won that match 13-0.
14:30 (IST) Korea lead 2-0 at half-time. The Indian girls have been on the backfoot after conceding the early goals. India need some spark from their main scorer Ritu Rani in the second session.
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13:57 (IST) Korea make it 2-0 in the 9th minute. This time it's a penalty corner conversion by Cheon Eun Bi. She is 21 and has played 43 matches for Korea. The Koreans have scored 33 goals in the tournament so far, the maximum by any team.
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13:50 (IST) Cheon Seul Ki, 24, is a veteran of 71 international matches and one of the best dragflickers in Asia.
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13:48 (IST) Korea take 1-0 lead in the second minute of the match. Cheon Seul Ki converts from a penalty corner.
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Match Preview
With an eye on next year's hockey World Cup, Indian women play South Korea in a semifinal match of the 8th Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur today. China play Japan in the other semifinal.
India claimed a hard-fought 2-0 win against Malaysia, with Poonam Rani and Lily Chanu Mayengbam both scoring crucial second half goals to end the host nation's title and World Cup qualification ambitions. The result sealed a second place finish in Pool A behind China, who on Tuesday powered to a 7-0 win over Hong Kong China to make it three tournament wins out of three.
Korea continued their superb run of form with a blistering 16-2 win against Chinese Taipei to seal their place at the top of Pool B, while Japan confirmed their place in the competition semifinals with a thoroughly convincing 12-0 drubbing of Kazakhstan.
With Asia's four finest teams powering into the semis, Thursday's matches are expected to be incredibly close and fiercely contested. (Read more)
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India's road to the semis:
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India defeated hosts Malaysia 2-0 to qualify for the semi-finals on Tuesday.
Poonam Rani (39th) and Lily Chanu (46th) scored two second half goals at the Stadium Hoki Nasional to seal India's place in the last-four stage of the eight-nation tournament.
With six points in their kitty, the Indian eves finished their Pool A engagements on second position behind China (nine points). (Read full report)
India lose to China 1-0
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India fought valiantly against higher-ranked China before going down by a solitary goal in their second Pool A match on Sunday.
The Indian eves, ranked 12th in the world, fought tooth and nail against the seventh ranked Chinese girls and matched their opponents for most part of the match. (Read full report)
India thump Hong Kong 13-0 in opener
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With their eyes firmly set on a berth in next year's World Cup, Indian eves started the campaign on a rollicking note, spanking minnows Hong Kong 13-0 in their opening match on Saturday.
Knowing well that only a win in this tournament would secure a ticket to next year's World Cup to be held from 31 May to 14 June 2014 at the The Hague, Netherlands, the Indians eves meant business from the onset and scored goals at will against the hapless Hong Kong side to boost their morale ahead of tough games. (Read full report)