Jalandhar, Nov 1 South Korea and Japan qualified for the semifinals of the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament after registering 5-0 win and 2-2 draw against Bangladesh and China respectively here on Sunday.
Hosts and Asian Games gold medallist India and Asian Games silver medallist Malaysia had already booked their places in the semifinals with three wins in as many games.
In the first match of the day, South Korea spanked Bangladesh 5-0 to seal their place in the semifinal.
South Korea are currently placed third in the standings with two wins out of four matches.
Dain Son (17th, 32nd, 51st minutes) scored a hat-trick for South Korea through field efforts, while Geunwoo Park (7th, 34th) converted penalty corners.
South Korea will next play India in their final round robin match on Monday.
Later, Japan conceded a last minute goal from a penalty corner to draw 2-2 with a youthful Chinese side.
It was China who took the lead in the eighth minute through a field goal from Jialiang Zhang before Japan equalised through a penalty corner conversion by skipper Raiki Fushishima in the 48th minute.
Seconds later, Japan took the lead when Yuma Nagai scored from a field effort.
But China didn’t lose heart and equalised in the final minute of the match through a penalty corner conversion by Benhai Chen.
But the draw was not enough for China to stop Japan’s entry into the semifinal.
(PTI News)
