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Asia Cup: India blame umpiring for loss

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South Korea lift trophy with 4-3 victory

Ipoh (Malaysia): India fought valiantly before losing 3-4 to defending champions South Korea in the final of the ninth Asia Cup hockey tournament here on Sunday and the players felt that a bad umpiring decision at the fag end of the match cost them the title.

Australian umpire Murray Grime awarded Korea a penalty corner just two minutes from the hooter when Rupinderpal Singh tackled a Korean forward inside the circle, but the Indian players felt it was bad call by the umpire and the tackle was a clean one.

“The last penalty corner which Korea got was wrongly given. By no chance it was a penalty corner. It was a clean tackle from Rupinder, but the umpire debated that he deliberately did it,” an Indian player said on condition of anonymity.

Kang Moon Kweon made no mistake with the chance and converted it to shatter the hopes of a handful of Indian supporters present at the stadium.

“The umpiring cost us the match. We came here with one purpose to win the tournament. But in the end we are happy with the way we played here,” another player said.

Asked India’s interim coach Roelant Oltmans about the decisive penalty corner, he simply said: “It’s better not to say anything about it.”

Disappointed to have faltered at the final hurdle, Oltmans nevertheless said the players should be proud of their performance.

“Obviously, I am disappointed with the end result but we are proud of the way we came back into the game. In the first half we didn’t play well but in the second half we really played outstanding hockey. We scored two fantastic goals,” he said.

“This team has fought with its heart out. We became strong as a team with every game. The way we played in this tournament we should be proud of ourselves,” Oltmans said.

A win in the Asia Cup would have given India a direct entry into next year’s World Cup.

But nevertheless, India are virtually assured of a place in the showpiece event, the official confirmation of which will come only after the conclusion of the Oceania Cup in November, which either Australia or New Zealand is expected to win.

The Koreans scored through Jang Jong Hyun (28th minute), You Hyo Sik (29th), Nam Hyun Woo (57th) and Kang Moon Kweon (68th).

For India, Rupinderpal Singh (48th), Nikkin Thimmaiah (57th) and Mandeep Singh (64th) were the goal-getters.

It was a case of near yet so far for the Indians who did a tremendous job in the second half, after going into the breather trailing by two goals.

But the Indians eventually fell short as Korea eked out a hard-fought win and also got their revenge over the side against whom they lost 0-2 in the pool stage.

In the third-place playoff, Pakistan beat Malaysia 3-1. (PTI)

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