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Indian women settle for silver in hockey

C N R Vijaykumar in Bangkok

The Indian women's quest for their first Asian Games hockey gold in 16 years ended today when they went down fighting 1-2 to defending champions South Korea in the final.

India drew first blood in the 27th minute through a field goal by skipper Pritam Thakaran, but could not prevent the Koreans, winners since the 1986 Seoul Games, from converting one penalty corner in each half.

The Koreans got the equaliser a minute before half-time when Tae Seon Kim converted their team's sixth penalty corner. The winning goal came in the 50th minute through captain Seung Shin Oh, who converted the seventh corner.

Korea had defeated India 5-0 in the league encounter.

The Indians, who converted penalty corners deftly in the run-up to the finals, failed to convert any of the six, including three in quick succession, which they forced today.

Displaying improved stick-work, the Indians played to a plan in the first half and rattled the Koreans, who missed many a shot.

For once, the Indians were not overawed by their formidable opponents who remained unbeaten in the league phase. They went for the ball without allowing the Koreans to settle down. In the process they forced two penalty corners within the first 11 minutes, though they failed to convert either.

In the ninth minute, a brilliant shot by Nidhi Kullar, coming off a move orchestrated by Jyoti Kullu and Pritam Thakaran, was superbly saved by Korean custodian Yong Sook Park.

India wasted another penalty corner before a threat to the Indian citadel was intelligently thwarted by goalkeeper T Kshetrimayum who stopped an attempt by Sook Choi and Hyun Jung Woo following a penalty corner.

Soon after the Indian goal, Korea's Sook Choi was shown a yellow card for dangerous tackling.

Pressing for the equaliser, the Koreans mounted ceaseless onslaughts on the Indian goal, but were thwarted by the sturdy defence.

Korea earned three penalty corners within five minutes before the breather and succeeded in converting the last one when Seon Kim sounded the board.

After changing ends, the Koreans continued their attack, but their attempts were foiled twice by the Indian custodian. In the 48^th minute, Jyoti Kullu moved in menacingly, but her feeble shot narrowly missed the box.

Fifty minutes into the game, the Koreans succeeded in getting the match-winner when Shin Oh converted the seventh penalty corner through a direct hit.

The desperate Indians made random forays towards the Korean goalmouth and forced three successive penalty corners within two minutes. But all of them were wasted.

It has been a remarkable run for the Indian women who, after winning the inaugural hockey gold in the 1982 New Delhi Asiad, had failed to excel in international tournaments. In fact, they were playing their first Asiad final since Seoul 1986. They finished last in the Utrecht World Cup.

"It was unfortunate that the girls lost out on the gold today," said coach Sudarshan Pathak, praising the team's performance.

The bronze went to China who upset Japan 2-0 in the play-off for third place. Both goals came in the first half.

China got its goals through Fu Baorong and Yang Huiping. In another match, Uzbekistan baulked Kazahkstan 5-2 and finished fifth. Hosts Thailand finished last among the seven teams.

UNI