Undeniable South Korea claim maiden triumph

South Korea were crowned champions of the Asian Champions Trophy after beating Japan 4-2 in a dramatic shootout in the final at the Maulna Bhasani Hockey Stadium yesterday.

South Korea, trailing 3-1 with only six minutes left, showed an undeniable spirit to make a 3-2 in the 55th minute before forcing a shootout by levelling the margin with only one second left, thanks to two superb penalty-corner goals from Jang Jonghyun, also the hero of Korea's semifinal triumph against Pakistan.

However, on this occasion he had to share the spotlight with goalkeeper Kim Jaehyeon, who emerged in the shootout to deny two Japanese players and give South Korea their first Asian Champions Trophy title in their maiden final appearance.

Meanwhile, Japan had to be content with a second-placed finish for the second time after a 3-1 loss to Pakistan in the third edition of the Asian Champions Trophy in 2013.

In the match, Japan -- who stormed into the final with 5-3 upset against India -- clearly dominated despite conceding in the eight-minute, looking unstoppable with their pace and solid defending.

After failing to cash in on two penalty-corners in the first half, Japan equalised by capitalising on their third penalty-corner in the second quarter and took the lead with a fourth penalty-corner conversion. Japan then scored again in the third quarter to make it 3-1 and almost snatch the game away.

Their goalkeeper Yoshikawa Takashi ensured the lead would not narrow, stopping six successive penalty-corners between the second and fourth quarter.

However, Korea did not lose hope, claiming five further penalty-corners in the fourth quarter and Jang Jonghyun, who finished as the tournament's top-scorer with 10 goals, converted one in the 55th minute to reduce arrears before winning a penalty-corner review with seven seconds on the clock. South Korea then sensationally equalised with only one second to go.

Japan's Kenta Tanaka and Bangladesh's Biplob Khujur were adjudged 'best promising player' and 'goalkeeper of the tournament' respectively.

In the day's first match, India inflicted a 4-3 defeat on arch-rivals Pakistan to claim third place. An exciting place-deciding match saw Pakistan surrender the lead in the last quarter of the game, meaning they have now failed to beat India for 13 straight matches.

It was a battle for prestige between the cross-border rivals after their exit from the semifinals meant that this edition would be the first in tournament history that neither India nor Pakistan would be in the final.