India and Pakistan set up virtual semifinals at the Asian Champions Trophy after India drew their match against Malaysia and Pakistan won their outing against South Korea on Wednesday in Ordos, China.
The draw helped the Indian hockey team to continue their unbeaten run, but was not good enough to win a spot in the finals. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s 3-2 win against South Korea gave Friday’s heavyweight clash between these two teams a semifinal clout.
Pakistan are on top of the table with nine points followed by India’s eight. Japan are third on seven points with Korea stationed fourth having six in their kitty. That puts four teams with a possibility of entering the final.
Matches
Indians were in attacking mode right from the start after Gurwinder Singh Chandi made his customary run into the Malaysian circle but the first few appeals for penalty corners were not given by the umpire.
A similar attack between Chandi, Mujtaba and Sunil also resulted in a melee but the penalty corner did not come India's way.
India, however, got the goal in the ninth minute when Sunil shot into the circle and it shot off the Malaysian goalkeeper Roslan Jamaluddin's pads. Ravi Pal picked up the high rebound and whacked it into goal.
The scorers for India were Ravi Pal (9th) and Danish Mujtaba (52nd). For Malaysia, the goals were struck by Tajuddin Jalil (24th) and Muhammad Amin Rahim (32nd).
Pakistan, meanwhile, battled hard for their victory knowing that a win over Korea would strengthen their chances of a place in the Champions final.
Pakistan took lead in the 7th minute when Muhammad Waqas struck a short from the right corner of the striking circle.
It was 2-0 in the 13th minute when Muhammad Irfan powered in a penalty corner. Korea fought back after the break and cut the scores in the 43rd minute after Sun Hoon Cho shot in from close. The scores were equalized in the 52nd minute when Korea struck of a penalty corner converted by Hyun Woo Nam.
Both the teams searched for an equalizer and it took a counter-attack from the Pakistanis to score the match-winner in the 57th minute when Shafqat Rasool found the goal after the goalkeeper had slipped while charging out.
In another match, Japan beat China 3-2. China took the lead in the 27th minute Song Yi converted a field attempt. Japan fought back with an equalizer on the break when Kazuyuki Ozawa scored from the top of the circle.
Japan added another two after the break in the 45th and 53rd minute. They took the lead through a penalty corner conversion by Shinji Kawauchi and a field attempt for the third goal by Tanaka Kenta.
Sneak in
India can afford a draw provided Malaysia beats Japan. India can then sneak into the final on a better goal average that too if Korea beats China, the lowest ranked team in the tournament.
Goal averages would also count for Pakistan and Korea if India beats Pakistan. The safest bet for India, however, would be to beat Pakistan.