Close finish: South Korea beat Pakistan to qualify for Asian Hockey Champions Trophy final
- Will now face Japan on Wednesday
South Korea on Tuesday qualified for the final of the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy after defeating Pakistan 6-5 in the semi-final of the event at Dhaka's Maulana Bhashani National Stadium.
Meanwhile, Japan stunned India 5-3 in the second semi-final to book the final berth against South Korea at the same venue on Wednesday.
Earlier, the Pakistan team put up a strong fight but failed to edge past the opponents as two goals in the first quarter served a major blow to the team.
Koreas’s Jang Jonghyun was the star of the show with four goals. Meanwhile, Korean goalie Jaehyeon Kim also deserves equal appreciation for denying Pakistan so many chances.
Pakistan qualify for the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy semis
“We played well but the two goals from the penalty strokes we conceded hurt us,” said Pakistan captain Umar Bhutta in the post-match ceremony.
This is for the first time since the inception of the tournament that Pakistan have failed to qualify for the final.
They were the joint defending champions with archrivals India in the 2018 edition of the ACT in Muscat, Oman as poor weather conditions did not allow the match to take place.
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