Asian Games 2010, 2010 Asian Games

Song Yi of China (R) his congratulated by his teammate Liu Yixian. -Photo by AFP

GUANGZHOU: South Korea taught a hockey lesson to minnows Oman, defeating them 8-0 in a one-sided match in the preliminary round, signalling key runners for the medal – India and Pakistan – that a gold medal would not be an easy pie for them.

The match started here at the Aoti Hockey Field Stadium on Tuesday with Hyun Hysung, a key drag-flicker from the Korean side, helping his forward line taking massive lead.

Oman`s defence could not contain the scare of Lee Nam Young, Korea`s captain, who helped his squad scoring three quick goals in the first seven minutes.

It was the second half in which the Korean forward line cashed on five out of six penalty-corners. Dawn

“We aim to win the gold and have entered the competition with a gold in mind. We are confident about winning it and the entire team is in form,” Hyun Hysung, 24, told in his brief media statement.

Hyun Hysung and Nam Hyunwoo scored two goals each.

Seo Jongho, Jang Jonghyun, You Hyosik and captain Lee Nam Young added one goal apiece to ensure Korean win.

Korea are now at the top in their pool.

Korea`s captain Lee Nam Young added: “Pakistan and India are the two key competitors in the tournament but the Indians have an edge over the green-shirts.”

He added that they would engineer their best strategy against the two key South Asian hockey nations and would be watching their players, especially forward-lines.

In another match, China took a sigh of relief as they defeated Singapore 2-0, though the young Singapore team, captained by Singh Harjeet, dominated the game.

China got their first penalty-corner in the 16th minute but their forward-line failed to convert it into a goal.

China even missed an open chance in the 28th minute, thus giving an edge to Singapore, ranked No.8 in Asia.

However, it was an own goal scored by the young defender of Singapore who in a bid to hit the ball outside the danger zone flicked it in his own goal which edged passed goalkeeper Salim Zulqernain.

But luck sided with the hosts as China got a gifted goal six minutes before closing of the game while striker Liu Yixian scored another with a better push right from top of the D.

Meanwhile, Pakistan would play their opening match against minnows Hong Kong at the Aoti Stadium on Wednesday in the afternoon [12:00 noon PST] and India would play Bangladesh.

Results:
Men`s:
South Korea 8 Oman 0
China 2 Singapore 0
Women`s (round-robin):
Japan 3 India 0
China 3 Kazakhstan 0
South Korea 4 Malaysia 0