INCHEON, South Korea: Sloppy India scored twice in the third quarter to overcame China 2-0 yesterday and set up a tough Asian Games field hockey semi-final against hosts South Korea.
Defending champions Pakistan will take on Malaysia in Tuesday’s other semi-final in a repeat of the title clash four years ago in Guangzhou.
India, seeking their first Asiad title since 1998, were kept at bay by the Chinese till V. Raghunath converted a penalty corner in the 40th minute and Birendra Lakra scored the second goal five minutes later.
Pakistan ended pool B with their fourth successive win, an 8-0 rout of Oman that featured two goals apiece from Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Irfan and Abdul Khan.
Malaysia clinched the second spot behind the Koreans in pool A with a crucial 4-1 win over Japan in which Razi Rahim netted two goals.
In Badminton number one Lee Chong Wei fought back from a game down to set up a new clash with arch-rival Lin Dan.
Lee had to dig deep to beat Vietnam’s Nguyen Tien Minh, 21-23, 21-16, 21-17 in the men’s singles quarter final. He gets his latest chance against China’s Lin in the semi-final today.afp
