7th Junior Asia Cup: Women's team lose the 3rd/4th position clash to South Korea 2-3

A still from the 3rd/4th position clash between India and South Korea (Image credit: Hockey India)

The junior Indian women’s hockey team finished 4th at the recently concluded 7th Junior Asia Cup as they came out on the losing side in their 3rd / 4th position encounter against South Korea in Changzhou. The South Koreans came back from behind to score 2 goals in the last four minutes to win the match 3-2.

The Blues started the match on a positive note after the disappointment in the previous semi-final clash where the young Indian team lost to Japan 3-2 in a penalty shootout after the game ended 2-2 at full-time.

The Indian eves were looking dangerous in the opening period of the 1st half as they attacked the opposition circle in search for the all-important opening goal of the match. They finally managed to score in the 19th minute through Namita Toppo’s cool finish which left the Korean custodian stunned.

Within minutes of the first goal, the Koreans were seen attacking India’s circle and soon got a penalty corner in their name. However, the penalty corner was saved well by the Indian goalkeeper Inderpreet Kaur, who parried the ball away from the danger area.

The save was followed by yet another penalty corner in the 29th minute for the Korean’s, but Inderpreet Kaur was not able to make a save this time, resulting in Koreans drawing the game 1-1 at half-time.

Fairytale finish for the Korean’s

The Blues started the second half on the same note as they started the first, attacking the Korean circle right from the start whistle. The initial pressure paid off as Lilima Minz converted the penalty corner to give the Indians the much-needed second goal.

The game was perfectly balanced the Blues favor till the 66th minute when Minji Lee scored the equalising goal for the Koreans and tied the match 2-2. The Korean’s completed their fairytale comeback through Jin Cho Hye scoring the winning goal in the 68th minute and to give the Indian team no chance of making a comeback with just a minute left to play.

The young Indian team managed a 4th place finish while the Korean’s took the 3rd place.

After putting up a fighting performance, India go down to Korea in the 3rd/4th Place match today. #IndiaKaGame pic.twitter.com/cVynPtvKK2

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) September 13, 2015