Asian Champions Trophy Hockey: Men in Blue face Korea test

Following a rousing win over Japan in their opening outing of the fourth Asian Champions Trophy, India are looking for variations beyond ace shooter Rupinder Pal Singh’s penalty-corner flicks when they take on South Korea here on Saturday.

Bracing for tougher matches against former Asian champions South Korea and Pakistan over the next two days, India are pleased with the goal-scoring prowess exhibited in the 10-2 win over Japan.

Penalty corner variations are on the mind of coach Roelant Oltmans, whose choice of players for this first tournament after the Olympic Games was restricted due to the V.R. Raghunath’s injury and the absence of young shooter Harmanpreet Singh, who is preparing for Junior World Cup to be hosted by India in December.

On Friday, Pakistan clinched a 1-0 victory through a last-minute penalty corner goal from Abdul Khan in the round-robin league encounter against South Korea.