India lose to China in hockey

HYDERABAD: India, South Korea and China, the three pre-tournament favourites, had contrasting fortunes at the end of the league phase of the 4th Asia Women''s Junior Asia Cup hockey tournament here on Tuesday.
While the Koreans finally unleashed the power to overwhelm Japan 6-2 in their final league match, hosts India, touted to give the Koreans run for their money, continued with their profligate ways and lost to China 2-3, ending the league phase without a win.
China, who held South Korea to a goalless draw on Sunday, continued to ride their luck and capitalised on the chances that came their way and benefited from Indian forwards'' waywardness to reach Thursday''s final against Korea, thus maintaining their chances of clinching a berth in the 2005 Junior World Cup.
India, despite finishing without a point, will take on Japan, in the classification match for the 3rd-4th place on Thursday, hoping to restore some pride by winning the bronze medal. As they languish at the bottom of the table, the Indians had themselves to blame. They missed chances galore in each of the three matches — on Tuesday, they squandered 11 penalty.