India vs South Korea HIGHLIGHTS, Asian Games 2023 hockey semis: IND through to finals, defeats KOR 5-3

That’s all for today, check out our comprehensive coverage of the Asian Games!

Asian Games 2023 Highlights, October 4: Neeraj Chopra, Kishore Jena win Javelin Gold and Silver; Men’s 4x400m win Gold; India wins 18 Golds, 80 medals in total

Asian Games 2023 Highlights, medals tally: Catch the scores, updates, commentary, and highlights in this blog from Hangzhou 2022.

India will take on the winner of the second semifinal match between Japan and China.

Amit Rohidas with the long ball, but Abhishek was not able to trap. Koreans counter-attacks but a dangerous ball by the Koreans leave them hapless. AND THE HOOTER BLOWS AND INDIA ARE THROUGH TO THE ASIAN GAMES 2023 FINALS!!!!

Koreans seek to enter the Indian D but fail to make it count.

Koreans remove their goalkeeper and substituted him with an outfield player.

Sumit also getting hit on the knee as he limps off. Free-hit to the Koreans. Indians counter-attack. AND THEY DO IT IN STYLE. Mandeep Singh traps the ball and passes on the aerial ball to Abhishek, who manages to find space in the Korean D and reverse hits to the goal. The hit, however injures Korea’s Yang Jihun, who is stretchered out.

Harmanpreet Singh hits Lee Juyoung’s left hand, which leads him to being taken out of the field.

Whistle blown by the umpire as free-hit given in favour of India as the Koreans attempt a goal.

Jarmanpreet gets a Green Card courtesy a rough tackle committed outside the 25m mark.

India tries to do a quick counter-attack but Mandeep is stopped.

Abhishek’s loose touch and inability to keep the ball trapped leads to the Indians losing their attempt to score.

Sreejesh is back. Dangerous play by the Koreans inside the Indian D.

An attempt of Manjae, who gets it wide after his hat-trick three minutes ago. Lee Seunghoon gets a green card and the whsitle blows after third quarter.

PC FOR KOREA as Harmanpreet is not five metre away from the attacker. Jung Manjae scores yet again off a deflection as Jang Jonghyun is the first battery .

Lalit to Hardik, who makes a mistake and its intercepted by Jang Jonghyun.

Jarmanpreet traps the ball well as Gurjant tries to take a shot, but Kim Jaehyeon saves it.

Mistrap by Gurjant, but he manages to get it back.

Hardik runs to right baseline, minuses the ball but Sukhjeet lets the ball loose and the Koreans intercept the ball and take it away.

A chance for the Koreans to score, but Lee Nam Yong flicks it wide as five Korean strikers invade the Indian D.

Indians try to enter via the left flank. Mandeep complaining that it was a stick check by Korean defender.

India manages to score a goal in the second quarter after the Koreans took the stage in the first-half of second-quarter.

India’s captain Harmanpreet defends the ball with brilliant stick work and two Koreans behind him near the corner of the Indian circle, but the ball is finally pushed wide by the Koreans.

Varun Kumar injured and was seen lying down on the field in what seemed like an ankle twist. He is seen walking out of the field.

A PC for India. A variation by India with Harmanpreet on the first battery, but misses it.

Lee Hyeseung picks a green card.

Indians attempt to enter the Korean D, however, are unable to make it. On their second attempt in the same minute, long ball by Hardik as Jarmanpreet receives it and its a foul committed by the Korean defence in its D. AND A PC FOR INDIA. AMIT ROHIDAS SCORES !!! Hardik injects, Amit, who was on the second battery, flicks it into the goal.

Indians will have to buck up as they did in the first-quarter.

Jung Manjae deflects the ball right into the goal as the Koreans seek a bounceback.

Varun Kumar asks for review as the referee awards PC to Korea. The on-field referee changes his decision as he had seen in the big screen that the ball hit the Korean foot before that of India.

Abhishek gets a green card for his rough tackle.

PC FOR KOREA!! As Korea comes to the Indian D via the left flank, Lee Jungjun gets the leg of Sumit inside the circle. Kim Hyeongjin injects, but a variation by the Koreans lead to Jung Manjae scoring their first goal of the match!!!!

Vivek gets the pass into the Korean D and moves it to Gurjant, who attempts to score, but is in vain as it’s saved by the Koreans. However, Harmanpreet manages to get the ball inside the D and passes it to Lalit, who scores with ease.

Gurjant finds the South Korean defender’s foot to get India its first PC.

Long ball collected by Gurjant in the Korean D was passed to Mandeep who was near the far post and leads to a deflection and into the GOAL POST.

Hardik Singh scores off a ball which is bounced off a goal scoring attempt.

India and South Korea begin their trsyt with Asian Games semis as they enter the field.

​

Since 2013, the two teams have squared off 17 times, in which India has won eight, while six have ended in a draw and Korea winning three.

The Indian men’s hockey team will face its toughest challenge yet at the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022, when the side led by Captain Harmanpreet Singh square off against four-time Champions Korea in the first semifinal on Wednesday. Dominant India, once again, ended the Pool Stage as table-toppers after picking a 12-0 win over Bangladesh on Monday.

With five wins in all their five Pool A matches, India earned 15 points, and are yet to be beaten in the tournament. India was in a similar position heading into the semifinal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, but went down 2-2 (6-7) to Malaysia, missing out on the opportunity to win the gold medal. Harmanpreet Singh said that the team is wary of not taking any opposition lightly and will enter the game against Korea with a positive mindset.

“We have started strongly in the tournament and have won all our Pool stage matches, which has given us a lot of confidence going into the final stages of the competition. We will enter into the 1st Semi-Final with a positive mindset, but we are also cautious that we do not allow ourselves to take any opposition lightly and are well-prepared to adapt ourselves against our opposition whenever needed,” Harmanpreet Singh said.

While India last won the Asian Games trophy in 2014 in Incheon, Korea’s last title win was back in 2006 in Doha. So far in the competition, India has beaten Uzbekistan 16-0, defeated Singapore 16-1, picked up a 4-2 win over Japan, followed it up with a 10-2 win over Pakistan, and then defeated Bangladesh 12-0.

On the other hand, while Korea defeated Indonesia 10-0 and Thailand 10-0 as well, the World No. 12 suffered a shocking 2-3 defeat at the hands of World No. 22 China in the Pool Stage. Korea bounced back with a 4-3 win over Malaysia and a 16-2 win over Oman to make it to the semifinals.

“In a long tournament, it is all about making correct decisions on the field and off the field. We know Korea’s strengths and their defensive capabilities. They are a strong unit and have done exceedingly well in the tournament so far. We know of their track record at the Asian Games, and hence, we know we have to put our best foot forward to ensure we do not allow them any room to surprise us on the field,” Harmanpreet Singh added.

India’s last few meetings against Korea are a testament to how close the competition has been between the two nations. At the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023 in August this year, India had to fight hard to pick up a close 3-2 win over the opposition. Last year, at the Hero Asia Cup 2022, India drew 4-4 against Korea, and at the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Dhaka 2021, the two sides drew 2-2 as well.

“Korea have traditionally been a tough opponent for us. But having played them recently has given us an idea of what we can expect in the upcoming game,” Indian men’s hockey team Chief Coach Craig Fulton said.

“We know that Korea are defensively very strong and how dangerous they can be with their counter-attacks. So, we have to be ready to defend in numbers whenever we are out of possession. Modern hockey requires players to run the entire length of the pitch, and the fitness levels of our players will be tested against Korea, especially in the hot weather conditions. It will also be crucial to get early goals to get ourselves in a good situation, and not allow the opposition to get comfortable,” he signed off.

The India vs South Korea hockey semifinal match at the Asian Games will take place on October 4 at 1:30 PM IST. The match will be telecasted on Sony Sports Network and live streamed on Sony LIV.