Pakistan take on defending champions South Korea in the Asian Games Hockey Tournament first semifinal with an aim to earn a berth in London Olympics 2012 at the Aoti Hockey Centre here on Tuesday (today). Under International Hockey Federation rules, the winners in the 10-nation competition will get a direct entry to the 2012 Games. India will clash with Malaysia in today’s other semifinal.
Under-pressure Greenshirts, who have scored 28 goals in the event so far, are desperate to win a medal in Guangzhou after finishing last at the World Cup in New Delhi and an embarrassing sixth at the Commonwealth Games also in New Delhi. Pakistan, who won the last of their seven Asian Games gold medals in Beijing in 1990, have not bagged a major title since the World Cup triumph in Sydney in 1994. To earn a medal, Pakistan will have to defy recent results in two mega events. Skipper Zeeshan Ashraf and his men face an uphill task against South Korea who will be seeking a hat-trick of titles after winning golds in 2002 and 2006. South Korea whipped Singapore 12-1 in their last league match to top Malaysia on goal difference in Pool A.
Captain Zeeshan, whose team bounced back from the loss to India a day earlier to outclass Bangladesh 6-1 and finish second in Pool B behind their archrivals, was confident on Monday his team would shine in the semifinal under Dutch coach Michel van den Heuvel. “I am not too concerned about the setback against India. I don’t think there is any difference between the two teams. It was a close game that could have gone either way,” said Zeeshan. “We will give our best in the semifinal because our journey back to the top will begin from there. The confidence-level of the team is high,” he added. Pakistan were drawn with India, Japan, Hong Kong and Bangladesh in Pool B. The other group comprised of South Korea, China, Malaysia, Oman and Singapore. Zeeshan wanted his team to recover quickly from the defeat against India and prepare for the last four match. “The main thing is we are still in contention for the gold medal. We will bounce back.”
Banking on sharp shooters: The semifinalists will be banking on their powerful penalty corner hitters to deliver. The strongly-built drag flickers, who take set-piece shots at the goal with lightening speed, have not disappointed so far in the competition. Six of the top eight scorers in the preliminary league are penalty corner exponents with India’s Sandeep Singh leading the charge with 10 goals. Veteran Sohail Abbas of Pakistan has six, while China’s Liu Yixian, the South Korean duo of Jang Jong-Hyun and Nam Hyun-Woo and Muhammad Imran of Pakistan have five each.
“Penalty corners are the most important aspect of modern hockey,” said the 35-year-old Abbas. “If the strikers don’t score themselves, they try to make sure the team earns penalty corners. It’s all part of the game.” Abbas, who was recalled for the Asiad after being left out of last month’s Commonwealth Games, is the world’s leading scorer with 316 goals. But the Koreans say Abbas’ mighty presence does not worry them. “Abbas is a wonderful striker, but our own Jang and Nam are equally good,” they said. “We also have a lot of faith in our goalkeeper.”
India, the only team with an all-win record in the league, failed to win a medal at the Doha Asiad four years ago when they drew with South Korea 1-1 in a league match they needed to win to advance to the semifinals. The Koreans went on to take the gold medal with a 3-1 win over surprise finalists China, who knocked out Pakistan in the semifinals. “We can’t afford another Doha,” said captain Rajpal Singh. “Our penalty corner strategy has worked out well so far, but we must try something different in the semifinal because the other side would have studied videos of our matches,” the captain said.
Rajpal aid it would be dangerous to depend entirely on Sandeep’s prowess to see them past Malaysia. “They are a good team and we must take all the chances that come our way,” he said. “Winning all league matches won’t count if we lose the semi-final.”
India, under Spanish coach Jose Brasa, have shown signs of a revival, securing second behind world champions Australia at the Commonwealth Games. India delighted home fans by beating Pakistan 4-1 at the World Cup in February-March and then engineered a 7-4 thrashing of their archrivals at the Commonwealth Games, both wins coming on home turf. But India’s most memorable win came in the Commonwealth Games semifinal against European champions England when they scored twice in the last 10 minutes to make it 3-3 before winning the penalty shoot-out. “We are the best Asian team we will prove that in the semifinal tomorrow,”