India, Korea declared joint winners

India and Korea were declared joint champions after the cup final was abandoned a little over six minutes after start in the Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament on Sunday. India, the defending champion, leads the pool with a tally of 13 points.

Heavy rain forced the Tournament Committee to arrive at this unprecedented decision. This is the first time that the teams have been declared joint winners in this tournament since its inception in 1983.

Even the two earlier matches, which Australia and Pakistan won, were affected by rain.

The rain had abated in the second half of the Australia-Malaysia encounter. But the drizzle began when the Indian and Korean teams lined up for the national anthem. It intensified into a heavy downpour reducing the visibility of the umpires and players. The rain continued for about 30 minutes leaving the pitch inundated.

The Tournament Committee and the TD, Paul Richards, met to take stock of the situation and decided to abandon the final. It was then conveyed to Sultan Azlan Shah, President, Asian Hockey Federation, for his approval.

Stunning show

Unfazed by the reverse of an early goal, Australia produced a stunning performance in the second half to corner the bronze medal against Malaysia.

Caught on difficult and slippery underfoot conditions on account of the wet pitch, the Aussies struggled to contain the enthusiastic and enterprising Malaysian forwards.

The home team scored two brilliant goals through Hanafi and then the equalizer in the second half from Rahim.

But the sparkle of the Malaysians was obliterated by the second half Aussie incandescence. No one contributed to the success to the team as much as Matthew Swann, who also scored the first goal. And appropriately enough, he was named the player of the match.

Russel Ford whacked a splendid goal on the backhand to hoist the lead for Australia. This was followed by Kieran Govers, Christopher Cirello and Grant Schubert. In the final minute Tajuddin netted the third goal for Malaysia.

Pakistan stretched

In a rain-marred match, Pakistan was stretched by China full length up to a sudden death phase when Rasool etched the win to confirm the fifth spot. The teams were 1-1 at regulation time, and dead-locked at the tie-breaker. The verdict was decided in the sudden death strokes. Pakistan won 6-5.

Sultan Azlan Shah, President, AHF, presided and presented the medals.

The results: Final: India and Korea declared joint winner after seven minutes of play.

3-4: Australia 5 (Matthew Swann, Russel Ford, Kieran Govers, Christopher Cirello, Grant Schubert) beat Malaysia 3 (Hanafi Hafizhafiz, Rahim Mohammad Amin, Tajuddin).

(5-6): Pakistan 6 (Shafqat Rasool.— Tie-breaker — Kashif Ali, Shafaqat Rasool, Zubair Muhammad, Ifran Muhammad, Tauseeq Ahmed — Sudden death: Shafaqat Rasool) bt China 5 (Na Yubo — TB — Liu Yixian, Yang Dong, Ji Mi, Liu Xianting, Sun Tianjun).

Final placings: 1. India and Korea, 3. Australia, 4. Malaysia, 5. Pakistan, 6.China, 7. Egypt.

Special awards: Top-scorer: Nam Hyun Woo (Korea) (nine goals); Best goalkeeper: Kumar Subramaniam (Malaysia); Player of the Tournament: Sardar Singh (India). Fair Play Trophy: Egypt .