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In today’s men’s Asian Games semi-finals, Akashdeep Singh shot India to victory over Korea, while Pakistan took victory over Malaysia in the event’s first shoot-out. In a thrilling match for 7th place, Oman slipped past Bangladesh.

In the first semi-final, India were the more active and aggressive team from the start. In a rough game, they were able to create danger where the Koreans could not, and it was a question of time until the goal would fall. It took until the end of the third quarter, and when it came, it was an unlikely goal with Akashdeep Singh striking in a turning motion with his back to the goal. In the fourth quarter, Korea pushed for the elusive equalizer, but they could not get close to the goal, and had to concede defeat. India thus reached the final of the Asian Games 2014, while Korea will be playing for bronze. India’s coach Terry Walsh said after the game that he was most happy with the fact that India managed to bring energy to the game throughout the 60 minutes and that the players had stepped up their performance levels, learning to cope with “being the hunted rather than the hunter”.

Following them on the field were Pakistan and Malaysia. The two teams equally delivered a thrilling contest, with few scoring opportunities but plenty of excellent hockey. With no goals scored in regulation time, the teams went into a shoot-out, where eventually, Pakistan came out on top when in the sudden death pairings, Rashid Mehmood scored after Tengku Ahmad had missed. This victory put Pakistan into the final, joining classic rival India, a pairing in which Pakistan coach Sheikh Shahnaz says Pakistan will have a mental edge due to their win in the pool round.

Also today, in the match for 7th place, Oman defeated Bangladesh in a lively fight that had the crowd hold their breath. Bangladesh scored early, and after a prolonged exchange of blows with many chances but no goals, Oman finally got onto the scoreboard in the third quarter. A quick double hit got Oman ahead, but Bangladesh countered with the equalizer less than two minutes later. A penalty corner at the end of the third quarter finally put Oman ahead again, and despite a passionate fight by Bangladesh, they held on to the lead until the end of the fourth quarter. Oman thus took seventh place in the competition and Bangladesh eighth, ahead of Singapore and Sri Lanka.

Results

Tuesday, 30 September 2014 – Men

7/8th place: Bangladesh – Oman 2-3 (1-0)
Semi-Final: Korea – India 0-1 (0-0)
Semi-Final: Pakistan – Malaysia 0-0 (0-0) 6-5 shoot-out

To keep up with the hockey in Incheon, join us at www.asiahockey.org, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/asiahockey and on Twitter at twitter.com/asia_hockey. To find out more about all the action at the Asian Games Incheon 2014, please visit the official event website www.incheon2014ag.org/index.