India's exuberance falls short against experienced South Korea in another frustrating final defeat

Sundeep Misra


Indian hockey team watch on after defeat to SOuth Korea inthe final of the 2019 Sultan Azlan Shah Cip. Twitter@TheHockeyIndia 

By the time the night ends and dawn breaks over Ipoh, the Indian hockey team would have understood where it all went wrong against South Korea in the Sultan Azlan Shah final. Indian management has been quite obsessed with ‘young legs’, but it ironically was not the ‘ageing’ but ‘mature’ legs of the South Koreans who outsmarted India. In all probabilities, it was India's final to lose, but the South Koreans were able to claim victory through a 4-2 shootout victory.. But give the devil it’s due; the Korean coach Shin Seok Kyo, as wily as they come, knew that the deeper his team went into the match with the scores level, India's young flock would find it hard to stay focused.