Indian hockey team which has two Manipuris in it finishes runners-up in Asia Cup
Chinglensana Singh Kangujam and Kothajit Singh Khadangbam in Indian sqaud

It was a close call but Korea reaffirmed their status as Asia’s best thanks to a dramatic and hugely entertaining 4-3 victory over India in the final of the 9^th Asia Cup, which was played at the Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh, Malaysia. The Koreans played arguably their best game of the tournament and managed to subdue a determined Indian side hoping to seal their World Cup berth by winning the title. 

There was certainly no shame in the defeat for the Indians, who matched their opponents with a high quality performance, being beaten only by a team that had players with skills to match them.

With Korea having already booked their place at the 2014 Rabobank Hockey World Cup, it was in India’s interest to go for a win and confirmed their place at hockey's showpiece event. However, Korea's victory has now confirmed Malaysia as latest qualifiers for the world Cup, with India now having to wait until the completion of the Oceania championships in November before their place is confirmed.  

Korea established a 2-0 lead ahead of half time thanks to goals from eventual tournament top scorer Jang Jong Hyun and You Hyo Sik, but India hit back with goals in the 48th and 55th minutes from Rupinderpal Singh and Nithin Thimmaiah to set up a dramatic final fifteen minutes. 

Incredibly, Korea regained the lead in the 57th minute when Nam Hyun Woo netted, only for Mandeep Singh to restore parity with an instinctive volley four minutes from full time.  

Just as it seemed certain that the match would be settled by a penalty shoot-out, Korea won a 68th minute penalty corner. It proved to be the decisive moment of the match, with Kang Moon Kweon brilliantly converting a penalty corner to give Korea a glorious triumph in the Asian continental championship. Kang's winning goal was enough to earn him the man-of-the-match award. 

Earlier in the day, Pakistan claimed third place thanks to a 3-1 win over Malaysia. Faizal Saari gave Malaysia the lead in the 34th minute only to see his team's advantage cancelled out a minute later thanks to a strike from Abdul Haseem Khan. Pakistan sealed the win with second half goals from team captain Muhammad Imran and another for Haseem Khan, a player who is rapidly developing a reputation as a fearsome goal-scorer. 

Source: www.asiahockey.asia