Korea were promptly all over the Indian defense and Jang Jong Hyun opened the scoring on their first penalty-corner with an unstoppable flick under the crossbar. India reacted immediately and Gurwinder Singh Chandi equalized on a cross from Dharamvir Singh that eluded the Korean defense. They nearly scored again soon after on a similar move, with a ball stolen in midfield by Sardar Singh and relayed by Dharamvir Singh, but Lee Myung Ho in the Korean goal was up to the task this time.

Despite the rain hammering down the pitch and a storm brewing overhead, both teams maintained an attacking style with chances at both ends. Dharamvir Singh, very active today, had the Indian fans on their feet when he tried to reach a ball rolling tantalizingly close to the goal line, but a Korean defender intervened in the nick of time. They thought that they had scored on a penalty-corner with 4 minutes to go in the period, but the shot was deemed high. Sandeep hit the crossbar on the next attempt and the Korean defense cleared the third one, and halt-time was reached on par 1-1.

Second period was fast and furious, with end-to-end moves from both teams. Seo Jong Ho had a good chance after receiving the ball deep behind the defense, but he slipped when trying to turn around for the shot. Sardar Singh was all over the pitch for India, carrying the ball into the Korean circle and cleaning up in defense in the next breath. Dharamvir Singh had a few additional close misses, and it was finally the Koreans who broke the deadlock by Nam Hyun Woo on a swift penalty-corner option and a flick that shaved the post, out of reach of PR Sreejesh who had replaced Bharat Kumar Chetri in the Indian goal at half-time.

With time passing and a forth defeat looming large, India threw caution to the wind, using Sandeep Singh in a high forward position. The gambit was nearly successful, but not quite, and Lee Seung Il took advantage of the depleted Indian defense to crucify PR Sreejesh for a third goal. Nam Hyun Woo added another goal, his second of the match, on a penalty-corner earned on the buzzer, to push Korea to a comfortable victory and the third place in Pool B, leaving India dejected and still pointless in the competition.

(Yan Huckendubler)

Jong Hyun JANG (KOR)
On the burst of energy in the final minutes that led to two goals being scored:
"I think that towards the end of the match, the Indian players were getting really tired and we could feel that so we decided to attack even harder and give it our all and take advantage of their weakened position."

Hyun Woo NAM (KOR)
On the result:
"We didn't play so well in the first half, our heads were down. In the second half it was 1-1 and as a team we worked together with a winning mind. Our goal is to reach the next stage."

On both Korea and India playing with a similar counter-attacking style:
"The skills and technique of India were very good. It was important that we played our way (counter attacking) and that we did not lose out when in one-on-one positions. I think our counter-attacks were very good."

Kumar Bharat CHETRI (IND)
On the match:
"We were making silly mistakes. We weren't passing the ball and we had a lot of missed chances which led to us not scoring today and throughout the tournament. The team played well but we will try to correct the mistakes."

On the match:
"We had chances. We did not convert goals. We were in the game all the time. We were attacking all the time. Last 10 minutes our man-to-man marking was poor."

On the presence at the match of triple gold medallist hockey player Balbir SINGH (IND):
"He's our well wisher. Sorry we could not get a win for him. We will be meeting him after the game. We have a lot of respect for him."