Malaysia have confirmed their spot in the 2014 World Cup of hockey in the Netherlands after South Korea defeated India 4-3 in the final match of the Asia Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia on Sunday.
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| South Korea beat India 4-3 in the Asia Cup Final |
India also almost guaranteed themselves a berth in the World Cup unless in the extremely unlikely case of Fiji beating Australia or New Zealand to clinch the Oceania Cup, India will lose out on a World Cup spot.
Interestingly, it was Pakistan that mooted the idea of a World Cup. The first World Cup was played in Barcelona, Spain in 1971 and Pakistan won the 10-team tournament while India finished third. Pakistan have won the World Cup the maximum number of four times while India won just once in 1975.
The 2014 edition will be the first time when Pakistan will not play in a World Cup. Pakistan had to win the Asia Cup to qualify but Korea shattered their dreams and effectively opened the path for India and Malaysia.
The men's 2014 World Cup will be a 12-team event. Ten teams have already been identified, India are virtually assured while the last team will come from Africa. The first seven qualifiers were selected from the top three of the two World League semifinals held in Rotterdam and Johor Bahru (Malaysia).
Germany, Argentina and England qualified from the Johor Bahru leg while Belgium, Australia andNetherlands made it from the Rotterdam leg. But since the Dutch qualify as hosts, New Zealand, the highest (FIH) ranked fourth finisher in the World League semis, became the seventh team to qualify.
That left five more slots to fill. Korea (fourth in Johor Bahru) qualified as first reserve courtesy Argentina's victory in the Pan-American Cup, Spain (fifth in Rotterdam) qualified as second reserve thanks to Germany's win in the European championship.
Both Malaysia, fifth in World League and a third reserve for the World Cup, and India (sixth in Rotterdam and fourth reserve) were virtually assured of a spot in the World Cup even before their semi-final match
If India had beaten Korea in the final, they would have gain a direct entry as continental champions. Since India lost to Korea, then Malaysia goes through and Sardar Singh's team will have to wait for the Oceania championship to finish in October-November.
The Oceania Cup is traditionally fought between Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. Since Australia and New Zealand have already qualified for the World Cup and one of them is expected to win the continental meet, India will benefit from the vacant Oceania spot to qualify as a reserve team.
The 12th and last team will be identified from Africa.
Source - NDTV Sports
