Indian Men's Hockey Team looks to carry on winning momentum in Super 4s
Dhaka (Bangladesh), 17 October, 2017: After three successive wins in the pool stage of the Hero Asia Cup 2017, the Indian Men’s Hockey Team is prepared to face-off with defending Champions Korea, who are in the hunt for a spot in the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018.
With convincing wins against Japan (5-1), Bangladesh (7-0) and Pakistan (3-1), the Manpreet Singh-led squad will look to continue their winning momentum in the Super 4s stage where they will play Malaysia and Pakistan too. The top two teams in the Super 4s will play the final on October 22. “We got off to a good start in the tournament though I would have liked to see a better performance against Pakistan, it’s good to have won all the three matches. In the Super 4s too, we will have a similar approach which is to take one match at a time and right now the focus is on the match against Korea,” stated Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne on Wednesday on the sidelines of the team’s training session.
Korea suffered one loss against Malaysia but won against China and Oman to make the Super 4s. With a good PC conversation rate and high quality counter attack, India need to be patient against them cautioned Marijne. “It will be an interesting match. We need to be patient and have good control. It’s important for us to focus on our own structure. They are good in counter and we need to be aware of that when we play against them,” he added.
The last time India played Korea was in Kuantan, Malaysia during the Asian Champions Trophy in October 2016. The match boiled down to penalty shoot-out after they drew 2-2 in regulation time in the Semi Final. India, however, won the match and eventually beat Pakistan in the Final to win the title.
But here, Korea will be under pressure as they are the only team in Super 4s who have not qualified for the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018. “This is our best chance to win a World Cup spot and it makes the Super 4s that much more important for us. We will need to make use of the chances we create and try to get a good start against India and put them under pressure,” stated Korean National Coach.