South Korea pip Pakistan to enter final

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Sydney: South Korea qualified for their first Olympic men's hockey final with a 1-0 victory over Pakistan here on Thursday, set up by their brilliant strategist Kim Sang-Ryul.

Kim, the team manager, sat up all night watching videos of Pakistan's earlier games in the tournament, particularly the penalty corner expertise of the deadly Sohail Abbas.

The effort paid off as the Koreans blocked six set-piece shots from Abbas and then struck gold with one of their own when Song Seung-Tae pushed home in the 57th minute.

Abbas's inability to strike unnerved the Pakistanis who allowed the Koreans to dominate a major part of the 70-minute encounter at the State Hockey Centre here.

The Koreans, whose fifth-place finish at Atlanta was their best Olympic performance, await the winners of other semi-final between reigning champions the Netherlands and hosts Australia.

The win avenged South Korea's defeats in two earlier encounters this year at the Azlan Shah tournament in Malaysia in January and the Olympic qualifiers in Japan in March.

"I was up till four in the morning watching Pakistan's games on video," Kim revealed. "It gave me an insight into their strategy and how Sohail takes his penalty corners.

"His first one is always a scoop to the right of the post and that happened again today.

"We neutralised Sohail by running into him and preventing him from scooping the ball," Kim said.

The dangerous Korean charge into Abbas resulted in Lim Jung-Woo being carried off in a stretcher after he was hit on the face by a rising ball.

Abbas seven goals in the competition are second behind Argentina's Jorge Lombi's tally of 12.

Pakistan, hoping to make their first final since winning their third gold at Los Angeles in 1984, were distraught after the defeat.

"It's all over for me and the team," said Pakistani manager Islahuddin Siddiqui, hinting he may have made up it's mind about quitting after the Olympics.

"We will go all out and try and win the bronze, but it will be little consolation for us. We should have gone for gold."

South Korea, meanwhile, hoped their lucky streak through the tournament will not run out in Saturday's final.

The Koreans made a back-door entry into the semi-final after Poland's last-gasp equaliser on Tuesday knocked India out of the competition.

"It will be horrible if we don't win the gold after coming so far," Kim said. "I can't wait for Saturday."



(c) Reuters Limited.