Malaysia throw India’s nemesis Korea out of Junior Men’s World Cup

Malaysia gave Indian hockey lovers something to rejoice about as they pulled the plug on the hosts' nemesis Korea by the odd goal in three to advance to the semifinals of the FIH 10^th Hero Junior Men’s World Cup hockey tournament being played at the Major Dhyan Chand National Hockey Stadium in New Delhi. Korea had secured its quarterfinal berth at the expense of India after playing out a 3-3 draw.

The Malaysian, who had topped Pool D, opened the account in the 18^th minute through Shahril Saabah, but the Koreans responded strongly and equalized close to half-time when their in-form drag-flicker Seungju You scored his eighth goal of the tournament as both teams were evenly placed at the breather.

The twenty-five minutes of play in the second half has failed to break the logjam and it appeared as if the contest may go beyond regulation time. Shahril Saabah ensured his team wrapped up the match in normal time, converting a penalty corner in the 60^th minute – Malaysia did well to held off the Koreans for the remainder of the contest to set up a semifinal meeting with France, who stunned Belgium 5-4 after the Redshirts surprisingly frittered away a cozy 4-2 lead to be on the losing side.

Earlier, 2009 runners-up Netherlands became the first team to reach the semifinals when they prevailed over New Zealand 3-2 in an engaging contest. Thierry Brinkman scored twice for the Dutch, while Tom Hiebendaal netted the other goal. Nicholas Woods and Benedict van Woerkom scored for England.

England belted Egypt 6-1 while Spain got the better of Canada 3-2 in 13-16^th place classification matches. Both England and Spain will meet in the 13-14^th place classification match.

Picture Courtesy FIH