Germany triumph; India fifth

An amazing last minute goal by Christoph Eimer, off a penalty-corner deflection, helped Germany beat Korea 3-2 and clinch their second Sultan Azlan Shah hockey title on Sunday.

With less than a minute to go, Germany earned their sixth penalty-corner and, instead of going for a direct flick, sent the ball to the right corner where Eimer deflected it into the Korean goal.

Korea took the attack to Germany to seize the initiative but it was German planning in the second half, combined with their tenacity, that gave them the title.

In the other classification matches, India finished fifth, defeating England 2-0 while Australia beat Pakistan 4-3 to take the bronze medal.

South Korea began superbly, pushing the German defence back with some amazing runs down the middle. The breaks were so fast that the Germans did not have any option but to pull back four men into defence only to see Korea still tear through.

The lead came in the ninth minute, off a beautiful move, when Seo Jong Ho ran through the circle and passed to Seung Song Tae, who flicked the ball into goal as the goalkeeper looked on helplessly. The midfield still maintained the pressure as the Germans tried their best to start sending balls to the flanks but the Koreans stopped them outside the circle, flicking the ball to their own medios and launching counter-attacks.

It would easily have been 2-0 in the 11th minute, when Hwang Jong Hyun went in and shot towards goal but the ball hit the post and rebounded back. Hwang again picked the ball and flicked it over goalkeeper Clemens Arnoldps back and gloved the ball away.

Germany had close chances too, with two penalty-corners in the 17th and 25th minutes but the Korean goalkeeper stayed on the line and saved the flicks.

The Germans finally got the equaliser in the 30th minute, when Philip Crone hammered a free hit into the circle and Tobias, at full stretch, deflected the ball into the goal.

Refusing to fall back, the Koreans stepped up the attack to earn a penalty-corner in the very next minute.

It was their first penalty-corner and gave them the lead again. Kim Chul shot into the corner of the post, where Kyung Seok Kim almost sat on the turf and deflected it with an angled stick into the goal.

At half-time, Korea led 2-1.

Coming back, Germany forced the Koreans in to the defensive and scored the equaliser. In the 53rd minute, off their fourth penalty-corner, Florian Kunz sent the ball flying to the left corner of the goal.

With the equaliser , the Germans spread out on the flanks and had the Koreans on the defensive. The game was confined to the midfield for almost ten minutes, as the Germans tried to control the moves and the Koreans trying to play the game at a faster pace.

With the match appearing to be heading for extra-time, Germany got the match-winner with a classy variation as Eimer netted the all-important goal to give Germany the title.

Shrugging off their defeat to South Korea in their last league match, India put up a good showing to beat England 2-0 and finish fifth in the tournament.

India, who had earlier finished their league phase with just four points, did well against England, dominating the midfield throughout the game except for a 15-minute period in the second half when the English pushed hard.

This was India's second win over England in the tournament. Earlier, they beat England 2-1 to record their only victory in the league stage.

Dilip Tirkey and Sukhbir Singh Gill were the players who stood out for the Indians while goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan also put up one of his best displays, keeping out four penalty-corners of a total seven that England had in the match.

India could have won by a bigger margin had they utilised a couple of opportunities that came their way in the first 15 minutes of the match.

However, in the 21st minute, Mukesh went in with Tejbir Singh and after a bout of passing in the circle, Tejbir shot from the right of the circle beating Simon Mason with an angled shot to give India the lead.

With five minutes left, India earned their first penalty-corner and Dilip Tirkey's direct shot beat Mason in goal to make it 2-0.

In contrast, England failed to come out with better plans in the second half. They were unable to beat a packed Indian midfield.

It was only after 10 minutes in the second half that England had decided to use the flanks and there they stretched the Indian defence to earn five penalty-corners.

But Devesh Chauhan was in form as he time and again came out to deflect the flicks and direct shots off his pads.

India came close to scoring in the 65th minute but Jugraj Singh's penalty-corner flick got deflected off Mason's pads and just went over the upright.

Australia defeated Pakistan 4-3 to take the bronze.

The Australians opened the scoring with a field goal from Troy Elder in the eighth minute and consolidated their advantage to go into half time with a lead of three goals to one, with goals from Ben Taylor, in the 11th minute off a penalty-corner, and a field goal by G Davis in 35th minute. For Pakistan M Khalid scored a field goal in 15th minute.

Trailing by three goals with 20 minutes left in the game, Pakistan scored twice through Sohail Abbas, who converted a penalty-corner in 51st minute, and M Khalid, from a field goal, in 64th minute. The Aussies hit their fourth goal in the 50th minute -- a field goal by Jamie Dwyer.

Coach Barry Dancer was happy to finish the tournament on a positive note and said he learnt much about his team during the tournament.

"It was a game in which we controlled the tempo in the early stages but our performance late in the game highlighted our need to improve our general fitness. The endeavour and commitment of the group was excellent but our preparation needs to be more demanding for us to be successful in the World Cup campaign". said Dancer.

Complete Coverage: Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament, 2001