Mohali, November 4:- Demonstrating their sporting supremacy once again, India defeated South Korea 8-1 today in a one-sided semifinal encounter, maintaining complete dominance and securing their place in the final. The Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium became a proud witness to Team India's magnificent performance.
It was the first time that the stadium hosted an international match, marking a prestigious debut on the global sporting map. Among the distinguished personalities present on the occasion were Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Balbir Singh, Member of Parliament from Sangrur Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh, World Cup-winning hockey captain Ajitpal Singh, Aslam Sher Khan, Zafar Iqbal, Olympian Balbir Singh Randhawa, Rajinder Singh Senior, Rani Rampal, Sardar Singh, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Rajpal Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Deepak Thakur and Kabir Singh, grandson of legendary hockey player late Balbir Singh Senior.
India will now face Japan in the final scheduled to be held at the same venue on November 5. Shilanand Lakra opened India's account with a brilliant field goal in the fourth minute. However, the Korean players did not take long to equalise, with Sanjun Han scoring a field goal in the ninth minute. Thereafter, the Indian players unleashed a flurry of goals. Captain Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty corner in the ninth minute, while Shilanand Lakra scored through a penalty corner in the 13th minute. Sukhjeet Singh and Dilpreet Singh scored field goals in the 21st minute. Just four minutes later, in the 25th minute, Dilpreet Singh struck again with another field goal, taking the score to 6-1. Angad Bir Singh extended the lead to 7-1 with a field goal in the 36th minute. In the 54th minute, Vivek Sagar Prasad scored India's eighth field goal to seal the emphatic 8-1 victory.
In another exciting semifinal, Japan and Malaysia displayed impressive hockey, but neither team managed to score during regulation time. Eventually, Japan defeated Malaysia 5-3 in the penalty shootout.
Kazumasa Matsumoto, Ryoma Ooka, Tsubasa Tanaka, Haruki Ochiai and Seren Tanaka scored for Japan. For Malaysia, Eiman Rozemi, Shello Silverius and Abu Kamal Azrai found the net. Earlier, China defeated Bangladesh 3-1 to secure fifth place in the tournament. Yulai Zhao opened the scoring for China with a field goal in the 10th minute. Yaki Wang added another field goal in the 18th minute, while Chinese captain Chongkong Chen converted a penalty stroke in the 22nd minute. Bangladesh scored its only goal in the 48th minute through a penalty corner, converted by Shohanur Mohammad Rahman.
