The Indian mens hockey team will lock horns with their toughest challenger yet at the ongoing 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2023 when the Indian side led by captain Harmanpreet Singh faces four-time Champions Republic of Korea in the 1st semi-final on Wednesday.India has shown a dominant game of display so far and earned the table-toppers position after the completion of the pool stage in the concluding match against a thumping 12-0 win over Bangladesh on Monday.With five wins in all their five Pool-A matches, India gathered 15 points and is yet to be beaten in the continental event. India was in a similar position in the previous edition of the Asian Games in Jakarta, India was heading into the semi-finals but went down 2-2 (6-7) to Malaysia and lost the golden opportunity to bag the gold medal. Captain Harmanpreet Singh said that the team is cautious of not taking any opposition team lightly and will enter the game against Korea with a positive intent.Positive mindset in semi-final, says Indian skipperAccording to the press release by Hockey India, captain Harmanpreet Singh said, “We have started strongly in the tournament and have won all our Pool stage matches, which has given us a lot of confidence going into the final stages of the competition. We will enter into the 1st semi-final with a positive mindset, but we are also cautious that we do not allow ourselves to take any opposition lightly and are well-prepared to adapt ourselves against our opposition whenever needed”.Indias dominationIndia won the Asian Games trophy in 2014 in Incheon, while Koreas last trophy win was back in 2006 in Doha. India beat Uzbekistan 16-0, defeated Singapore 16-1, picked up a 4-2 win over Japan, followed it up with a 10-2 win over Pakistan, and then crashed Bangladesh by 12-0 in the ongoing event.On the other hand, while Korea defeated Indonesia 10-0 and Thailand 10-0 as well, the World No. 12 suffered a 2-3 defeat at the hands of World No. 22 and host China in the Pool Stage. However, Korea bounced back with a 4-3 win over Malaysia and a 16-2 win over Oman to make it to the semi-finals.Since 2013, the two teams have competed 17 times against each other, in which India has won 8, while 6 have ended in a draw. Korea has managed to win three games.
