Korean Hockey Team Holds India To Draw

Defending champions and Olympic bronze-medallists India were held to a 2-2 draw by a fighting Korea in their opening match of the Hero Asian Champions Trophy men’s hockey tournament here on Tuesday. 

India started their Asian Champions Trophy drive on a cheerful letter as Lalit Kumar stroked the first goal in the 3rd minute. Kumar dominated the ball with light classiness to crash it in for a goal at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium.

Playing their first game after the historical Tokyo Olympics drive, India began brilliantly before vice-captain Harmanpreet Singh altered a penalty junction in the 18th minute to double their charge. Following 0-2, Korea battled back after the transition of endings and scored via Jonghyun Jang in the 41st minute and Sunghyun Kim in the 46th minute to shock the favourites and draw tier.

The Manpreet Singh-directed team also had multiple chances, including penalty corners, but was unsuccessful to use the chances as the match finished in a draw. Jaehyeon Kim in a show of the Korea plan was the contrast between the two teams as he created countless clever saves to support his side pocket a point from the game. 

The last meeting between the two teams finished in a 1-1 draw in the previous edition of the tournament. India will play next against the hosts Bangladesh on Wednesday.