Korean hockey team win first Asian Championship Trophy

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Published: 23 Dec. 2021, 12:01 Updated: 23 Dec. 2021, 17:22

Korean hockey team win first Asian Championship Trophy

Korean players celebrate after winning the men's field hockey final match between Korea and Japan at the Asian Championship Trophy tournament in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Wednesday. [AFP/YONHAP]

The Korean men's hockey team won their first-ever trophy at the Asian Championship Trophy tournament in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Wednesday, after a big comeback against Japan in the final.

Korea, who were competing in their first-ever final, had previously faced Japan in a preliminary match on Dec. 15, holding the neighboring country to a 3-3 draw. Wednesday’s match seemed to be going the same way, with the score tied at full-time and Korea eventually winning a penalty shootout to take the trophy.

Korea opened the scoring just eight minutes into the first period with a goal from Jeong Jun-woo. Sixteen minutes later, Japan leveled the score then ran away with two more goals in the 29th and 38th minutes, taking the score to 3-1 by the end of the third period.

Jang Jong-hyun came to the rescue for Korea, scoring the national team's second point in the 55th minute. Then, with just 13 seconds left on the clock, Jang was given a second short corner after a VAR review overturned his first short corner.

Korea's goalkeeper Kim Jae-hyeon reacts after saving a goal during the men's field hockey final between Korea and Japan at the Asian Championship Trophy tournament in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Wednesday. [AFP/YONHAP]

With six seconds left on the clock, Jang came through and tied the score at 3-3, pushing the match into a penalty shootout.

Four Koreans, Lee Jung-jun, Ji Woo-cheon, Hwang Tae-il and Lee Hye-sung, were all able to score, while Korean goalie Kim Jae-hyeon blocked the first and third shot of Japan’s penalties. Korea won their first-ever trophy with a 4-2 penalty shootout score.

Jang, who scored 10 goals in Korea’s six matches, was the best scorer of the event across all teams. World No. 3 India won the bronze medal, beating Pakistan 4-3 on Wednesday. India and Pakistan both entered the tournament as defending champions, having been declared joint winners in the 2018 tournament.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]