India run rings around Poland as S.Korea brush aside Japan

IPOH: India ran riot at the Azlan Shah Stadium here yesterday to hammer Poland 10-0 on the fifth day of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Hockey Tournament.

Although India had already confirmed their place in the final, they didn't hold back at all as eight of their players found the target.

The world No. 5 made their intentions known from the very first minute when Vivek Prasad put them ahead with a field goal.

That opened the floodgates as the goals rained in with regularity, starting with Sumit Kumar in the seventh minute, followed by Varun Kumar (18th and 25th), Surender Kumar (19th), Simranjeet Singh (29th), Nilakanta Sharma (36th) and Mandeep Singh (50th and 51st) before Amit Rohidas completed the route in the 55th minute.

Coach David John's India, thus, accumulated 13 points from five matches in the sixteam tournament.

Their opponents in the final, South Korea, also ended their round-robin fixtures on a winning note, with two-goal hero Cho Sukhoon inspiring them to sink Japan 4-2 at the same venue.

South Korea finished second in the standings with 10 points.

Japan took the lead in the 19th minute through Kazuma Murata, but South Korea hit back a minute later through a Jang Jonghyun penalty corner goal. Lee Namyong then made it 2-1 for South Korea with a field goal in the 28th minute.

Although Kazuma struck again in the 42nd minute to level the score, Sukhoon had other ideas as he scored two goals in a twominute blitz - 57th and 58th - to make sure South Korea head into the final on a high.