South Korea lifts Asian Champions Trophy Title: Women Hockey Update
South Korea put in a brilliant performance as they beat China 5-3 to lift the title in the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy that was held at the Ordos Hockey Stadium in China.
Amazingly, the Koreans were trailing by two goals in the first twenty minutes of the game; however, they changed their strategies and ruined the defensive line of the host team in the later part of the game. It was a game filled with lot of thrill and excitement,
as the arena was fully packed with an excited crowd to support the Chinese.
The supporters’ pressure served the home side for few early minutes and they dominated the field with the ball possession and early goals; however, the same served opposite in the counterattacks. The defensive line of Korea committed some fouls in the opening
minutes of the game but they overcome the play and turned the tables into their favour.
Both the Chinese and Korean ladies unfolded the crucial match in quite an offensive style and carried out back-to-back attacks against each other. However, it was the team from China that drew first blood in the 12th minute of the game. After
the Korean player committed a foul, the host squad earned a short corner and called Yibo Ma to convert the opportunity. She did not miss the chance and put the ball inside the cage within seconds through a drag flick and opened the scoring at 1-0.
After scoring a maiden goal, the home side started a more dominating style of play and accomplished fast-track penetrations into the 25-yard line of Korea. Their largely spread efforts bore fruit in the 18th minute when Baorong Fu made a lengthy
run at the right flank and sent a direct flicking shot into the goal to double the tally.
Finally, the Korean strikers came alive and attempted to show their presence on the field. In a matter of minutes, Ju Ok Kim of Korea proved all the predictions of the critics wrong and decreased the lead down to a single goal through a brilliant field goal.
Soon after the four minutes, another Korean player namely Eun Bi Cheon drove the ball at the top of the circle and slammed a shot into the goal. It was the overall first half action.
In the second half, Jong Eun Kim and Jong Hee Kim scored one goal each in the 44th and 45th minutes while his team-mate Mi Hyun Park did in the 64th minute. From the other side, Lihua Gao scored only goal in the second half
and lost the final match at 5-3. The Koreans won the title of the Asian Champions Trophy.
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