India, Pakistan to clash
for bronze medal

Pakistan 2 - Australia 0
Holland 5 - Germany 2
Korea 4 - India 2

India and Pakistan will meet again in the men's Champions Trophy hockey tournament in Cologne, Germany, on Sunday, this time to decide the winner of the bronze medal.

Pakistan made sure of figuring in the classification match for third and fourth places by beating Australia 2-0 in their concluding league match on Friday and finishing fourth behind India.

The Indians went down without a fight to South Korea 4-2 in the last match of the day's programme, aware that their outside chance of snatching a place in the final had been ruled out with The Netherlands thrashing Germany 5-2 in the preceding match.

After Holland's victory over Germany, the Indians went into their match a subdued lot. In fact, they used the match to experiment. Jugraj Singh played in midfield while Viren Rasquinha and Ignatius Tirkey moved behind in defence and tried to make play from the flanks. Bimal Lakra was rested and the upfront quartet of Dhanraj Pillay, Deepak Thakur, Prabhjot Singh, and Gagan Ajit Singh hardly exerted themselves. Result: the experiment flopped as the team was disjointed and did nothing worth a mention in the first half.

After Devesh Chauhan rose to the occasion twice to deny the Koreans success early in the match, Kyo Shin Seok broke the ice in the 24th minute off his team's second penalty corner, scoring from an indirect variation.

Two minutes later, it was 2-0 following the Koreans' third penalty corner. Defender Kanwaljit Singh, in an attempt to prevent a high ball from entering the goal, stopped it with his stick high above his shoulder. Ha Jong Jeon made no mistake from the resultant penalty stroke.

But five minutes after the breather, India pulled one back when Dhanraj Pillay slammed a loose ball past Korean goalkeeper Lim Jong Chun.

But they soon conceded another goal in the 52nd minute when Hyun Jong Hwang's crisp shot brooked no opposition.

Seok Kyung Kim made it 4-1 with three minutes to go before Gagan Ajit Singh, playing in his 100th international, reduced the margin with a fine display of opportunism in the last minute.

Germany and Holland played for pride. With both assured of a place in Sunday's final -- considering that India needed to beat Korea by a huge margin in the last match even if Holland lost -- the outcome of their match had little significance. But both teams gave the goodly crowd plenty to cheer about, in terms of game and goals.

Piet Hein Geeris opened the scoring for the Dutch in the 14th minute, finishing on a loose ball which came from a melee inside the circle. Geeris had another chance to score soon after, but he failed to make the best of some good work by Matthijs Brouwer.

Play got a bit physical as the Germans pressed hard for a reply to the goal. With three minutes to go for half time, they drew level from a penalty corner, with Bjorn Emmerling taping home a rebound off goalkeeper Guss Vogels's pads.

Germany rode into the second session in full throttle and went ahead in the 41st minute when Florian Kunz scored from a penalty corner. But that was the last they saw of the Dutch goal. Bram Lomans made it 2-2 four minutes later from a penalty stroke, which was awarded after Ronald Brouwer was hacked down inside the circle.

Thereafter, it was a one-way ticket for Holland as they sliced through the German defence with surprising ease. Taeke Taekema made it 3-2 in the 48th minute, scoring his seventh goal of the tournament from a penalty corner. And had goalkeeper Clemens Arnold not brought off some good saves, it could well have been a tennis score lead by the halfway mark of the second half.

With five minutes to go for the hooter, Germany put more men into attack, but paid the penalty for leaving their defence open. The Dutchmen seized the moment and scored twice within three minutes through Maarten Froger (66th), who neatly chipped the ball over the advancing Arnold, and Ronald Brouwer (68th) to complete the rout.

In the first match of the day, Pakistan beat Australia 2-0.

The Aussies finished the league stage without a victory and will play Korea for the fifth and sixth places.

Pakistan, who finished fourth in the league, will play India in the bronze medal match on Sunday.

Sohail Abbas put Pakistan ahead in the 22nd minute from their first penalty corner while Mudassar Ali Khan made it 2-0 in the 56th minute, dribbling past a couple of defenders following a free-hit variation from just outside the circle.

Day 1: Holland hold India with late goal
Day 2: India go down fighting to Germany
Day 3: India shock Australia
Day 4: Pillay, Chauhan star as India beat Pakistan
Day 5: Germany down Australia with late goals

Champions Trophy 2002: The Complete Coverage