Abhishek Mishra
After topping the table in the group stage with two close victories against China and Japan, and a 15-0 crushing win over Kazakhstan, the stage is set for bigger stakes as India take on defending champions, South Korea, in its first encounter of Super-4, on Wednesday.
The 7th ranked team led by Harmanpreet Singh now has a challenge of beating the 15th ranked South Korean team to maintain their winning streak and build momentum.
India stepped into the Super-4 stage with an unblemished record, winning all three matches and topping Pool A. It is true that they defeated China and Japan with just a difference of one goal, but now the confidence of the boys has skyrocketed following the massive victory over Kazakhstan.
In the initial two matches, India heavily relied on penalty corners where most of the goals were converted by skipper Harmanpreet. The Indian skipper found the net 6 times and all came via penalty corners. In his absence from the field, Jugarj Singh and Sanjay took the responsibility. But in their previous match, against the lower-ranked Kazakhstan, Abhishek Nain found his confidence back, netting 4 field goals while Sukhjeet scored 3 field goals.
South Korea qualified for the Super 4s from Pool B alongside Malaysia. The Korean team has had a mixed bag of results. They lost to Malaysia, but with wins over Taiwan and Bangladesh, they secured the Super-4 spot.
Coach Craig Fulton has confidence in his team’s attacking depth and the balance between field goals and set pieces. The major challenge for Harmanpreet and his boys will be to maintain their momentum against South Korea, especially as their defence wasn’t tested in the last match. Also, when the last time team India faced South Korea, at the Asian Cup, in 2022, the scoresheet was 4-4.
India will next face Malaysia on 4th September and China on the 6th September.
“All of them are tough opponents in this tournament. Although we have not played Malaysia and Korea a lot in the past year, we did get a good game against Malaysia in a practice match ahead of the tournament,””said Harmanpreet about the upcoming challenges in Super 4 as quoted by Hockey India.
“We obviously played against China and know what they can bring to the table. We are fast learners, which is good. So, when we play a team twice, it is good for us. It’s just about preparing well against Korea. Only focus is one game at a time,” he added.
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