FIH World Cup 2002: When South Korea almost broke the medal drought for Asia

Before the FIH World Cup 2018, the one time the men's edition had the largest number of participants, it came in 2002, when Malaysia hosted the World Cup after 27 long years. 16 teams participated in this mega-fest.

This was also the last time any Asian team reached even a whisker close to winning the World Cup.

Hosts Malaysia almost made it

The last time the Malaysian hockey team was worth some salt, it was in 1975 when the hosts had almost knocked India out of the semifinals. Since then, they had a topsy-turvy campaign throughout, with their most recent performance in any World Cup being a dismal eleventh.

However, the 2002 World Cup was a different affair altogether. To everyone's shock, Malaysia were on a roll in this edition, shocking both India and England 3-2 and 2-1 respectively, even knocking them out of contention.

Had it not been for a narrow loss against Sydney Olympics silver medalist South Korea, Malaysia could've repeated the heroics of 1975. Despite that, Team Malaysia finished a respectable 8th, much better than their previous outing at the FIH World Cup 1998.

Another sordid affair for Team India

FIH World Cup 2002: Yet another disappointment for Team India

When India won the Junior Hockey World Cup in 2001, everyone anticipated the Men in Blue to make a strong comeback in the 2002 World Cup. They had most of the star players from the Junior World Cup, along with stalwarts like Dhanraj Pillay, Baljit Singh Dhillon etc. However, like 1998, this was another dreary affair for Team India.

They barely managed to scrape a draw against a weak Japanese side, before being shocked by first South Korea, who pummeled them 2-1 and then Malaysia, who defeated them by 3-2.

Following a defeat to England, they were officially out of competition, and even a victory against the likes of Cuba and Poland was not enough. A defeat against Australia sealed their fate, and they were once again compelled to fight it out for the 9th -12th position crossovers.

Though they defeated previous edition's runners-up Spain 3-0, they failed to repeat the same against New Zealand. Despite a good lead till the last 10 minutes, India lost against New Zealand by 1-2 and were forced to be content with the 10th position.

When South Korea almost created a miracle

FIH World Cup 2002: When South Korea almost regained the Asian supremacy [Image for representational purpose]

This was also the last World Cup when any Asian team reached an iota close to winning the World Cup. Following their shocking success at Sydney Olympics, a resurgent South Korea were on a rampage, pummeling any team that tried to impose a tough challenge.

Except for two losses, the Koreans had won enough to cruise into the semifinals with ease. However, it was in the semifinals when their dream run came to a rude halt. A goal by Matthias Witthaus denied them a dream finals against Australia.

Even the Netherlands got the better of them in extra time, and the South Koreans were forced to sit out of the podium, with an agonizing fourth-place finish.

A new European World Champion

FIH World Cup 2002: Team Germany, the new Hockey World Champions from Europe

This was also the World Cup where the European dominance of Netherlands was broken by a powerful German side. Breaking the dream run of South Korea in the semifinals, they met a resurgent Australia in the finals.

Breaking the initial lead within halftime, it was the star of the tournament, Olivier Domke, who gave a united Germany their first ever field hockey World Cup.