Raheel scores all-important goal as India beat Korea in Azlan Shah Cup opener

Ipoh (Malaysia), Nov 23 (PTI) A solitary strike from Mohammed Raheel in the opening quarter saw a second-string Indian side defeat three-time champions South Korea 1-0 in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament opener here on Sunday.

India, competing in the prestigious tournament after a gap of six years, scored the goal in the 15th minute when the hard-working Dilpreet Singh set it up for Raheel following a fine buildup by the men in blue, who enjoyed midfield dominance thanks largely to Abhishek and captain Sanjay, who was part of the Paris Olympic bronze-winning side.

The Koreans in fact had to do a lot of defending as India attacked from both flanks and even earned a penalty corner as early as in the fourth minute with Sanjay stepping up to take the set-piece.

However, the defender's shot was saved by the rival goalkeeper.

The five-time champions, who have entered the prestigious tournament after six years -- India last played here in 2019 and finished runners-up to Korea -- were in a spot of bother in the second quarter when the Koreans were making a desperate bid for the equaliser.

Korea had a chance in the 27th minute when one of their forwards made a full-hearted attempt to reach a passing ball in front of the goalmouth but could not connect despite a sliding effort.

India went into half-time leading 1-0.

India were back in dominant form in the third quarter and kept charging upfront regularly. They earned a penalty corner through Abhishek but the shot was way off target.

With India leaving hardly any pockets of space for the Koreans to attack, the story of dominance continued in the final quarter.

The match, which was scheduled to commence at 1:30pm IST got delayed by more than six hours due to incessant rains.

India will take on Belgium on Monday. Each side plays the other five teams once in a round-robin format with the winner earning three points and a draw fetching one point. PTI AM AM AH AH