Home ›› 15 Dec 2021 ›› Sport
India and South Korea shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium in Dhaka in the opening match of the Asian Champions Trophy 2021.
In the other match, Japan drew 0-0 with Pakistan, who were playing an international match after two years.
The first match started 10 minutes late, and despite an open gallery with no ticketing system, there was no crowd at the start.
India, the favourites, came to this tournament with a young side but with a few members of their Olympic bronze-medal winning side. And their strength showed as they took just four minutes to go ahead. Lalit Kumar dribbled in from the left side and with a neat finish, he scored the first goal of the tournament.
In the 12th minute, India were close to their second goal but South Korea goalkeeper Kim Jaehyeon denied them.
India started the second half with a string of penalty corners, and finally, in the 35th minute, Harmanpreet Singh converted one to take India 2-0 up.
But then it was Korea’s turn to have three penalty corners in a row. And in the third, Jonghyun Jang scored in the 41st minute to bring Korea back into the game.
After getting a lifeline, Korea started to pressurise India even more as the Olympic bronze medal-winners started to look shaky.
And right at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Kim Sunghyun tapped in at the left post to equalise for the Koreans.
After being drawn level, India turned desperate, and with seven minutes to go, Harmanpreet converted another penalty corner to take India 3-2 up. But Korea reviewed the decision, and the goal was cancelled.
In the final minute, India got an opportunity as they got their sixth penalty corner of the match. But they failed to convert it, and the match ended in a 2-2 draw.
Japan-Pakistan end in stalemate
Playing an international match after two years, Pakistan were under kept under pressure by Japan from the very start.
In the last ten minutes of the match, Japan grew desperate and almost got a goal in the dying seconds. But their attack went just wide as Pakistan survived and managed a point.
