Korea defend hockey crown

Korea defended the men's hockey gold medal they won in Busan 2002 by defeating China 3-1 in the final of the competition at Al-Rayyan Sports Club. The win meant they were the only undefeated team in the tournament while Jang Jong Hyun finished as the top scorer with 15 goals.

In a tense final Yeo Woon Kon was the hero, scoring two goals as Korea came from behind to win after Na Yubo put China in front after nine minutes from a penalty corner. Korea equalised three minutes later through Yoon Sung Hoon and went ahead soon after when Yeo scored his first.

The Chinese defended well to prevent the prolific Jang from scoring any penalty corner goals - stopping him on six occasions. But their defence faltered four minutes from full time when they conceded a penalty, and Yeo stepped up to confidently convert past Ko Dong Sik in China's goal.

Korea's Seo Jong Ho was delighted to be a gold medallist and looked ahead with confidence to Beijing 2008. He said, "I'm very happy to win the final and to get an opportunity to participate in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I'm pleased to confirm that we are the best team in Asia.

"In the circle there were many Chinese defenders so we couldn't shoot easily. We tried to score a goal by penalty corners, but China defended all our penalty corners. I think they have improved their defence by their Korean coach Kim Sangryul."

Meanwhile, China captain Song Yi said after the match, "We did better and better in every game and we showed our hockey style in this game. It was a pity there was some key chances that we missed.

"I'm very satisfied with our performance. At the beginning our target was to beat India and get into the semifinal, but the coach told us to walk further. He thought that we could do better and he told us to finish one impossible mission after another.

"The most important thing we got was we found out about team play. The coach paid a lot of attention to team cooperation and team spirit and we want to make the spirit of the Chinese men's hockey and show the world the Chinese strategy and the Chinese style."

Earlier in the day, Pakistan were convincing victors in the bronze medal match, defeating Japan 4-2 with two goals for Muhammad Waqas, while Takahiko Yamabori scored both of Japan's goals to take his tournament tally to 12.

India found some form against Malaysia, winning 4-0, but it was too little too late as they bowed out fifth. Ragunath Vokkaliga scored two goals from penalty corners while Rajpal Singh and debutant Gurbaj Singh scored a goal each.

15th Asian Games, Doha 2006