India became the first team to book their berth in the semi-finals with a superlative display of artistry in their 3-2 win over South Korea for their third straight victory in the 7th BSNL Asia Cup Hockey Championship here, before a packed stadium tonight.For the first time in the recent past, playing at home, Indian players raised their game to great heights exhibiting total hockey in disposing off the Koreans, who are rated as the best in Asia, to take their points tally to nine from three matches. India led 3-2 at half-time. Shivendra Singh, Ignace Tirkey and Prabhjot Singh scored for India while Jang Jong Hyun and Kang Seong Jung sounded the board for Korea.It was a gripping encounter as the Koreans kept up the pressure making full use of their usual speed to dislodge the Indians. But the hosts’ cohesion and understanding between the forwards, medios and the defenders, put them on a better keel than the Koreans. This is the second time in the last three months that India had beaten the Doha Asian Games champions. Earlier, they had defeated them 1-0 in the Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia to claim the bronze medal in May.It was after a long time that the Indian team looked like a unit and gave an impression, particularly in the second half, that the team was destined to win. Nevertheless, the Koreans should be given due credit for their superlative performance as the two teams together broke the monotony of lopsided contests in the tournament. Earlier, India had defeated China 1-0 and Sri Lanka by a record 20-0 margin in the six-team pool. They should now be able to maintain a clean slate with two more matches to go against minnows Thailand and Bangladesh.In other matches earlier of the day, China thrashed Thailand 13-0 and Bangladesh (both in Group-B) overcame Sri Lanka 3-2.In other Group-A games, Pakistan scored a 8-0 win over Singapore for their second win in three matches, while Japan defeated Hong Kong 7-1 for their second win after upsetting Pakistan 3-1 on Saturday.
