Hockey Asia Cup 2022: India fail to reach final after drawing 4-4 with South Korea, to play Japan in Bronze medal game

Indian Men's hockey team failed to qualify for the final of Asia Cup 2022, after playing out a pulsating 4-4 game with South Korea. The defending champions needed an outright win to qualify for the final, but instead, they will now face off against Japan for the bronze medal match on Wednesday. 

Even though India failed to reach the final, the team coached by former Indian skipper Sardar Singh can take heart from their display against South Korea, who led the Super 4 points table ahead of their clash. 

The Men in Blue have already played Japan twice before in the Hockey Asia Cup, losing 5-2 in the pool stage match, but winning 2-1 in the Super 4 stage. 

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A scintillating game ends in a DRAW!!

IND 4:4 KOR #IndiaKaGame #HockeyIndia #HeroAsiaCup #MatchDay #INDvsKOR @CMO_Odisha @sports_odisha @IndiaSports @Media_SAI pic.twitter.com/eor7QdAZuB

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) May 31, 2022

Malaysia's 5-0 win over Japan early in the day meant that an outright win became a pre-requisite for India to qualify for the summit clash.

Both India, Malaysia and Korea finished on five points each in the Super 4 stage but the Birendra Lakra-side fell behind on goal difference.

Nilam Sanjeep Xess (9th minute), Dipsan Tirkey (21st), Mahesh Sheshe Gowda (22nd) and Shakthivel Mareeswaran (37th) scored for India, while Korea scored through Jang Jonghyun (13th), Ji Woo Cheon (18th), Kim JungHoo (28th) and Jung Manjae (44th).

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Korea will now take on Malaysia in the final on Wednesday, while India will play Japan in the third-fourth place classification match. 

With inputs from PTI