India beat South Korea 4-1 to enter men's Asian Champions Trophy hockey final
Hulunbuir (China), Sep 16: Skipper Harmanpreet Singh's sublime form resulted in twin strikes as defending champions India entered the final of the Hero Asian Champions Trophy with a clinical 4-1 win against South Korea in the semi-final here on Monday.
India scored through Uttam Singh (13th minute), skipper Harmanpreet Singh (19th, 45th) and Jarmanpreet Singh (32nd), while Korea's lone goal came from through Yang Jihun (33rd)'s penalty corner conversion.
India will take on hosts China in Tuesday's final. Earlier in the day, China defeated Pakistan 2-0 via shoot-out in the first semifinal after the two teams finished 1-1 at the end of regulation 60 minutes.
In the previous league stage encounter between the two finalists, India prevailed 3-0.
Pakistan and Korea will face off in the third place classification match which will also be played on Tuesday.
Meanwhile in the fifth-sixth place classification match, Japan beat Malaysia 4-2 in shoot-out following a 4-4 stalemate in normal time.
In the second semifinal as expected, the Indians started on the offensive and tested the Korean defence with persistent attacks from the word go.
The Koreans, on the other hand, were contend to sit back and defend and rely on sporadic counter attacks.
Abhishek came tantalisingly close to handing India the lead in the fourth minute but his reverse hit was brilliantly saved by Korean goalkeeper Kim Jaehan.
The Indian made promising build ups and penetrated the Korean circle on consistent basis in the first quarter.
India's attacking intent finally paid of in the 13th minute when Uttam positioned himself at the right place at the right time to tap in Araijeet Singh Hundal's supply from the right.
A minute from the first break, Korea secured back-to-back penalty corners but failed to utilise the chances.
Four minutes into the second quarter, India secured their first penalty corner and Harmanpreet scored his sixth goal of the tournament to hand his side a 2-0 lead.
At the stroke of half-time, custodian Suraj Karkera came out of his line to save an effort from the opposition player.
India continued in the same vein after the change of ends and extended their lead two minutes into the third quarter.
A brilliant scoop from Sumit from the right finds Jarmanpreet just outside the circle on the left flank and the latter neatly collected the ball and took a step or two to get inside the circle and slap the ball into the Korean goal to extend India's lead.
But Korea pulled one back a minute later from a penalty corner through the tournament's top-scorer Yang Jihun.
The goal hardly bothered the Indians as they continued their attacking game and dominated the share of exchanges.
With a second left for the third quarter, India secured another penalty corner when Korean goalkeeper Jaehan was shown the yellow card for handling the ball out side the circle, and Harmanpreet made no mistake to extend the lead.
Eight minutes from the final hooter, India's second goalkeeper Karkera made a fine double save to deny Park Cheoleon, but the Koreans secured a penalty corner which went in vain.
Thereafter, it was controlled show from the Indians as they defended their lead with consummate ease to march into their fifth final appearance in the tournament.
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Chamoli hydropower tunnel train collision: 88 injured, magisterial probe ordered
Gopeshwar/Dehradun (PTI): Chamoli District Magistrate Gaurav Kumar on Wednesday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the collision between two loco trains inside the Pipalkoti tunnel of the under-construction Vishnugad-Pipalkoti hydropower project, which left 88 people injured.
Earlier in the day, Kumar said that the accident occurred around 8.30 pm on Tuesday at the TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) site inside the tunnel being built by THDC (India).
A loco train carrying workers for tunnel excavation during the night shift was about two kilometres inside the tunnel when another loco train coming from the opposite direction lost control and collided with it.
One of the trains had workers and officials on board, while the other carried material.
Upon receiving information about the collision, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered proper treatment for the injured. He spoke to the DM over the phone and instructed him to ensure that all the injured receive the best possible medical facilities.
DM Kumar and Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Panwar met the injured at the Gopeshwar District Hospital.
Kumar said 109 people were on board the loco train at the time of the accident, most of them labourers. None of the injured was serious, he said.
He said that 88 of them were injured, although none of them are in serious condition. They said that 84 workers were discharged after receiving first aid, while four are still hospitalized.
DM Kumar and SP Panwar also inspected the project site and sought detailed information about the incident from the project officials.
They instructed them to strictly implement all necessary safety standards to prevent a recurrence of such an incident in the future.
After inspection, the DM issued orders for a magisterial inquiry into the accident caused by the collision of the loco trains.
Meanwhile, the Railways said the trains involved in the collision had no connection with it.
"It is clarified that this unfortunate incident occurred in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, involving a trolley used in the local transportation system during the construction of a hydroelectric project tunnel. The train referred to in the news reports is not an Indian Railways train, but a transportation system being used locally by the project team," the government entity said in a statement.
According to officials, rail-like vehicles are used to transport workers, employees, and materials for construction work inside the tunnel.
The project, being built between Helang and Pipalkoti on the Alaknanda River, will generate 444 megawatts of electricity through four turbines. The project is targeted for completion by next year.
