ACT Hockey: Dominant India storms into the final

Mohali India marched towards its sixth Asian Champions Trophy title in seven finals with a 8-1 thumping of Korea in the semifinal at the Olympian Balbir Singh International Stadium here on Wednesday. Up next would be Japan on Thursday in the first-ever final between the two sides in the competition after the latter upset Malaysia for the second time running via the shoot-out.

The scoreline was different but the domination that the host displayed in its final league match two days ago in Jalandhar against the same opponent was not. India began with a bang and kept the foot on the pedal all through, barring a small period in the third quarter that was not as productive in terms of goals as the others.

The Koreans, in a transition phase with mostly youngsters and just five members from the side that played the recent Asian Games, tried their best to match the Indians but it was soon evident that the gap was too huge to break a seven-year losing streak. A fourth-minute goal lifted into the net by Shilanand Lakra set the ball rolling and then the goals kept coming at regular intervals.