Malaysia's Muhamad Amin Rahim celebrates after scoring the winning goal against India in their men's semi-final. -Photo by Reuters

GUANGZHOU: Amin Rahim scored a late equalizer and the golden goal clincher as Malaysia produced a stunning 4-3 upset win over India on Tuesday in Asian Games men’s field hockey semifinals.

The semifinal win sent Malaysia into a final against Pakistan, which edged defending champion South Korea 4-3 in a sudden-death penalty shootout. Also at stake for the winner of Thursday’s final is an automatic qualifying spot for the London 2012 Olympics.

“It’s very sad … this is a big disaster,” said India’s Spanish coach Jose Brasa, whose contract expires after the tournament.

Rahim scored the golden goal via a 75th-minute penalty corner after helping Malaysia force extra time with a goal from a short corner with three minutes remaining in regulation.

Substitutes and team officials ran onto the field to celebrate with the players as soon as Rahim netted the winner, propelling Malaysia into the final for the first time in 11 Asian Games.

“They had good penalty corner variations and hit two short corners from different angles,” India captain Rajpal Singh said.

Malaysia coach Stephen Huizen said his players counterattacked and earned penalty corners at crucial times which were duly converted. He had no new gameplan to take on seven-time gold winner Pakistan, except more courageous play.

“On paper … we were underdogs today,” Huizen said. “And I think against Pakistan we will also be underdogs too.” -AP