Mamta Kharb fired home the only goal form a penalty corner after 16 minutes to give India their only medal in hockey after their men missed out on a semifinal place for the first time Asian Games history.
Korea had finished third ahead of India in the qualifying group phase but although they pressed for an equaliser in the second half they could not break through India's resilient defence.
The team thought victory secures India's place in the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Captain Jyoti Sunita Kullu said, "We wanted to go all out on this one and we had a penalty corner success.
"For this match our team had sworn to get the bronze because then we would qualify for the Olympics. It's a great thing for women's hockey in India."Â
But sadly for the Indians that is not the case. According to the International Hockey Federation, '"For India, there will be no qualification for the 2008 Olympic Games at this stage as only the two finalists will earn a ticket for the Olympic hockey tournament in Beijing. The Indian team will probably have another chance early 2008 during one of the three Olympic Qualifiers.'
Malaysia sealed fifth place in their first Asian Games appearance in 20 years with a 5-0 victory against Chinese Taipei.
Siti Rahmah Othman scored twice in the first half and other goals from Intan Nurairah Khushaini and Chitra Devi Arumugam put Malaysia four goals up at half-time. Nadia Abdul Rahman added the fifth from a penalty corner after 57 minutes.
15th Asian Games, Doha 2006
Posted December 14th, 2006 by COBA
