Canada triumphed 3-2 over South Korea to register their first win in the 31st Sultan Azlan Shah Cup at the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey
Stadium in Ipoh this afternoon.
The Canadians amassed four points after this victory but remained in fifth spot while the Koreans continued to sit at the basement
following four consecutive defeats.
South Korea dominated the first quarter proceedings against Canada on Day 5 of the competition. The Canadians were
tested by a dogged Korean side.
The Koreans started the match on the right foot, forcing the Canadians back in their own half as they looked to assert themselves
on the opposition. They earned two penalty corner opportunities only to be stopped in their tracks by the defenders.
But two minutes into the second quarter the Canadians, ranked 20 in the world, turned the tables around on the world No 15 Koreans
when Sean Davies scored the opening goal to give his side a 1-0 lead.
From there on, both teams largely controlled the tempo of the game. Determined to restore parity, the Korean forwards were attacking in waves in the third quarter and looked sharp. They managed to find the equalizer in the 31 st minute when Cheolean scored a field goal.
Canada found their momentum back in the fourth quarter with the second field goal scored by Flynn McCulloch in the 53rd minute to
push their lead to 2-1. But Jihun Yang converted a penalty in the 56th minute to draw level at 2-2.
Matthew Sarmento shattered the Koreans hopes with a tomahawk shot from the top of the circle that sent goalkeeper Kim Jaywhan
scrambling in his failed attempt to parry it away. The final score stood at 3-2.
CANADA: Patrick Tshutshani (Coach)
I thought it was a tight game. Korea played well in the first half, but we also came back and it was loggerheads. They obviously took the
lead and then we came back. My boys fought really well. We defended really well. We pride ourselves on that, but also scored
some really good goals to finish it off. We are very confident in terms of what we are building and what we are working on. India will be a tough game and we look forward to it. We played well against Belgium, they were super, super composed and we took our chance and we just keep building.
SOUTH KOREA: Taeseok Min (Coach)
The result was that the players worked hard, but their performance was not good today. I felt that we did not have enough experience.
We need to have more experienced players with technical skills. I am also a little disappointed with some of the decisions made in the game.
