India humble Korea, in semis

Football in Germany and cricket in the West Indies meant that hockey in Malaysia would disappear off sports fans’ radars. And India’s recent dismal run virtually guaranteed that the eight-nation Azlan Shah Hockey tournament would have few ardent followers.

Football in Germany and cricket in the West Indies meant that hockey in Malaysia would disappear off sports fans’ radars. And India’s recent dismal run virtually guaranteed that the eight-nation Azlan Shah Hockey tournament would have few ardent followers.

But India’s stunning 3-0 win over an in-form South Korea — the first in three years — and their entry into the last four means that hockey under the new coach Vasudevan Baskaran is finally looking up. This is the same Korean side that defeated Olympic champions Australia 3-0 on Tuesday and mauled the Indians 4-1 last year at the same venue.

The win, which came through goals from Tejbir Singh (11th), Sandeep Singh (15th) and Tushar Khandekar (53rd), marked India’s reaching the last-four stage in a major international event for the first time since 2003 when they won the Asia Cup.

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Ask Olympian Merywn Fernades about the turnaround and this is what he has to say: ‘‘There’s a lot of aggression. Earlier, the mindset was uncomfortably defensive. But during the wins against Malaysia (5-2) and Korea (3-0) it was seen that the mid-feilders, were up front assisting the forwards.’’

Junior team coach Clarence Lobo says: ‘‘After a long time we’ve picked a team which has a right kind of balance. Earlier there was no such thing as bench strength. The playing XI had to slug it out. With this team though, that’s not the case. Players are getting sufficient rest and are fresh when on the pitch.’’ A vital statistic bears testimony to Lobo’s assessment. In the match against Korea, Baskaran made 16 substitutions to get the best out of his team.

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