Match 15 - Japan v Korea
6th Asia Cup Women's Hockey Championship - Japan v Korea ( 1 : 4 )
Match Review
Day 6
Match 2. Korea vs Japan pool B.
Korea tonight threw down the gauntlet to Cup favourites in no uncertain terms with a stunning 4-1 victory over arch East Asian rivals Japan at Kings Park.
The Korean power and pace coupled with pin point accurate passes proved just too much for the Japanese to cope with. The lightning quick Korean breakouts proved particularly deadly and at times had the Japanese defence all at sea.
As expected the pool B clash started at a cracking pace.
But it was Japan who started with a lightning quick blitzkreig style attack straight down the middle on the Korean goal at the opening whistle that nearly caught the Koreans off guard.
As play settled down, the Koreans began to take control and in the 7th minute forced the games first penalty corner corner that saw the shot at goal by Korea's ace striker Cheon Seul Ki blocked by Japanese goalkeeper Yuka Yoshikawa.
The Korean pressure paid off in the 18th minute with Japan conceding a penalty corner that was converted by Cheon with a flick high into the right corner of the net.
But Japan responded immediately forcing Korean goal keeper Lim Ju Young to charge almost to the edge of the circle to block an almost point blank drive from Japan's Tomomi Komori and then almost immediatelyYukari Yamamoto unleashed a fierce drive to hit the Korean crossbar.
That was the last major Japanese attack of the Korean goal and in the 34th minute Park Mi Hyun scored a superbly taken field goal coming from a free hit outside the Japanese circle to make the score 2-0 to Korea as the match went into half time.
Japan went on the offensive at the resumption but again it was a pacy Korean breakout by Park Mi Hyun down the right that found Kim Mi Seon unmarked inside the Japanese circle. Kim made no mistake with a shot that beat the Japanese keeper Yuka Yoshikawa hands down to make score 3-0 to Korea.
And from then on it was always going to be an uphill battle for Japan to come back into the match.
To their credit the Japanese side never capitulated and scored a consolation goal from a penalty corner converted by Keiko Miura in the 55th minute.
And then after Japanese keeper Yoshikawa made a fine save from a Korean penalty corner in the 59th minute, the Koreans put the issue beyond any doubt with a penalty corner converted by Kim Dae Rae to make the score 4-1 to Korea. The Koreans could have netted another field goal just two minutes from full time when Han Hye Lyoung's reverse stick shot went wide with just the Japanese goal keeper Yoshikawa to beat.
Result: Korea 4 (Goal scorers : Cheon Seul Ki, Park Mi hyun, Kim mi Seon, Kim Dae Rae Japan 1 (Keiko Miura)