India lost to Korea by 2-1 in a semifinal match of the 8th Women's Asia Cup Championship in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. With this, India's dreams of reserving a World Cup hockey berth were smashed.
Notably, the Koreans scored both their goals in the first half, while Ritu Rani scored one goal for India just after halftime. However, the Koreans maintained their meager lead. Next, China and Japan is supposed to play the second semifinal.
Remarkably the Koreans, who had scored 31 goals in their three group matches, were on the attacking mode right from the beginning and scored both their goals during the first 10 minutes. The goals emerged from penalty corner conversions.
No doubt, Korea took a 1-0 lead in the 2nd minute of the match. Actually, Cheon Seul Ki converted the first penalty corner the Koreans gained. It is known that 24-year-old Cheon Seul Ki is a veteran of 71 international matches and in addition, one of the best dragflickers in Asia. Korea made it 2-0 in the 9th minute. Particularly Cheon Eun Bi, who has played 43 matches for Korea, committed no mistakes.
On the other side, the prolific Ritu Rani, who scored 7 goals in India's first match against Hong Kong China, scored during the 41st minute. She managed to convert a penalty corner. However, the Koreans succeeded to dominate and thrash the Indians.
India claimed a hard-fought 2-0 victory against Malaysia earlier this week. In this match, Poonam Rani and Lily Chanu Mayengbam scored vital second half goals. The result sealed India to a second place finish in Pool A just behind China.
Outstandingly, Korea continued their fantastic run of form with a magnificent 16-2 victory against Chinese Taipei to reserve their place at the top of Pool B. On the other hand, Japan confirmed their spot in the competition semifinals with a brilliant 12-0 goals drubbing of Kazakhstan.
