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The Indian men's hockey team secured a place for themselves in the semifinals of the 2023 Asian Games, with a game in hand, following a 10-2 win over Pakistan on September 30.
Who the Indians would face in the semifinals was the subject of much deliberation given that a surprise win for the Chinese against South Korea had opened up the prospects of Pool B.
The South Koreans then went on to defeat Malaysia, which added to the possible permutations and combinations. Before action commenced on the final day of the pool matches on Monday, South Korea, China, and Malaysia were all in with a chance to advance to the semifinals.
As it turned out, South Korea trounced Oman by an imposing 16-2 margin to cement their place in knockouts while Malaysia needed an outright win against China to avoid elimination.
A pulsating contest witnessed both teams scoring four goals apiece even as the Chinese advanced to the semifinals after topping Pool B. As such, the Chinese will take on Japan, who beat Pakistan by a 3-2 match in their last Pool A game.
The Indians finished on top of Pool A after defeating Bangladesh 12-0 in their last game before the knockouts and will face South Korea in the semifinals of the men's hockey event on October 4.
Meanwhile, eight-time Asian Games gold medalists Pakistan bowed out of the competition following their loss to Japan.
The big India-South Korea semifinal could come down to a battle of short corners - and short corner specialists - with Jang Jong-Hyun and Harmanpreet Singh leading the list of goalscorers in Hangzhou.
While Harmanpreet Singh has scored 11 goals thus far (9 from PCs), Jang Jong-Hyun of South Korea has scored 17.
Epic India-South Korea clashes in Asian Games history
Pakistan and India played every single final of the men's hockey competition at the Asian Games right from the first edition in 1958 up until 1982.
At home in Seoul, the South Koreans altered the script in 1986 after holding the Indians to a 1-1 draw in the pool stages. While India lost to Pakistan (who finished second in their pool) in the semifinals, the Koreans got past Malaysia before defeating the Men in Green to win gold.
At the Hiroshima Games in 1994, South Korea beat India 3-2 to win their second gold medal in the competition.
Thanks to the legendary Dhanraj Pillai who scored the equalizer to force a 1-1 draw in regulation time, the Indians tilted the scales in the 1998 Bangkok Games when goalkeeper Ashish Ballal strode out to stop the penalties in the tie-breaker.
Ballal stood tall in goal helping the Indians win gold after a gap of 32 years.
The see-saw battle continued with South Korea defeating India in the final of the next edition of the Asian Games in 2002 in Busan.
Back in 2014, a lone goal from Akashdeep Singh was enough to help the Indians beat South Korea in the semifinals en route to winning their third Asiad gold.
More recently, the Indians defeated South Korea by a 5-3 margin in a pool game during the 2018 Asian Games - a result that the Men in Blue would love to replicate in the big semifinal on Wednesday.
