South Korea thrashes India again

Chennai, Feb 25 (UNI) Hosts India were thrashed 3-0 by South Korea in the home match of the Women's Olympic qualifying match at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here this evening.

All the goals came in the first half and by virtue of this win the Korean women qualified for the next stage.

Medio Lee Kye Lim hoisted the lead in the 25th minute before the visitors pumped into two goals in two minutes through strikers Park Hee Young (38th) and Moon Seula (39th) to seal the fate of the Indians.

In the away match on February 17 India, playing under sub-zero conditions, were thrashed 0-5 after managing to keep the Koreans at bay for the first 45 minutes.

It was a hopeless performance by the Indians, who hardly made any worthwhile move right through the encounter. Some mindless running, and aimless passes contributed to the Indian downfall, who were rest content in defending their own citadel.

Such was the domination by the visitors that the Korean territory looked like a ''No-entry zone''. If India managed to break the shackles and get into the rival zone, it only caused some ripples among the sparse crowd as they were clearly dispossessed.

What was more surprising was that neither the Korean defence nor its Goalkeeper Kim Jung Mi was tested even once right through the 90-minute contest.

Koreans on the other hand played like a cohesive team and were in thick of action.

After missing some gilt-edged chances Lee Kye Lim struck with a superb finish off a rebound following a goalmouth melee. Lee Seaeun's flag kick was headed by Park Hee Young only to see an Indian defender effecting a goalline save.

Lee again tried to score off the rebound before Lim showed enough opportunism to slot the ball home.

Korea's dominate was complete with Park Hee Young charging in from the right flank to connect a pass from Kwon Hau Nul and Moon Seula made most of a cross from Hee Young to stamp their authority.

There was no perceptible change in the script in the second half as Koreans held sway, but further success eluded them, mainly due to some poor finishing and good saves effected by Indian custodian Lourembam Chanu.

UNI