India and Korea in Men’s Asia Cup final

Defending champion, India, will take on Korea in the final of the Asia Cup on Sunday. In the semifinals played before a packed stadium in Chennai, India overwhelmed Japan by four goals to one, while Korea downed Malaysia by the odd goal in three.

India continued its sequence of victories with another splendid display. All the four were field goals, conceived well and executed brilliantly. No doubt the Japanese played with a lot of vigour, but the finesse in the Indian attack eventually won the day.

Two brilliant goals in a space of one minute in the first half jolted the Japanese. First, Shivendra struck from a cross by Sunil, and within a minute Prabhot Singh went in a solo move to beat the rival goal-keeper with a deft flick.

After the break, India enlarged the tally when Roshan Minz netted following a move by Prabhjot and Tushar.

The Japanese who found goalkeeper Baljit Singh a tough nut to crack eventually slotted on through Yamabori, but before the final whistle, Prabhjot Singh netted another splendid goal off a solo run from the mid-field.

Earlier, Korea's resilience stood in good stead even as goal keeper Kunmar Subramaniam came with another sterling display. Some of his saves off Jang Jong Hyun were outstanding. But he was flummoxed by a deflection by Oh Dae Keun.

Malaysia had its moment of glory when Azlan Misron levelled taking advantage of a cross from Tajuddin. But before the final whistle, Korea claimed the match winner from a tearaway move by Yoon Sung Hoon.

Results Men’s Asia Cup Saturday 8 September 2007:
Semifinals:
India – Japan 4-1
Korea – Malaysia 2-1

Classification matches:
Singapore – Thailand 4-0.
Pakistan – Bangladesh 10-0
China – Hong Kong 6-1.