India claimed the silver medal in the 28th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Hockey Tournament when they lost to South Korea in the hard-fought final via penalty shootout (2-4) at Ipoh in Malaysia today. Shootout rule was applied after play in regulation time ended in 1-1 draw.

In the shootout, Birendra Lakra and Varun Kumar converted their chances for India. Korean skipper Lee Nam-yong scored the winner after Lee Jung-jun, Jung Man-jae and Ji Woo-cheon had netted their goals. Host Malaysia finished third, defeating Canada 4-2.

This was the third title triumph for Korea, who earlier won it outright in 1996 and were joint champions with India in 2010. On the otherhand, it was eighth final for India, who had won the title in 1985, 1991, 1995, 2009 and 2010.

Both teams have now played 82 times with each side winning 32 times. The other 18 matches have ended in a draw. India vice-captain Surender Kumar was adjudged the Player of the Tournament, while Mandeep Singh and Jang Jong-Hyun became joint-highest goal-scorer of the tournament with seven goals each.

Indias qualified for the final with four wins and a draw at the league stage. They beat Asian Games Champions Japan 2-0, hosts Malaysia 4-2, Canada 7-3 and Poland 10-0. The league match between India and South Korea ended in 1-1 draw.

The 18-member Indian featured three players from Odisha _ Birendra Lakra Amit Rohidas and Shilanand Lakra. Birendra Lakra was adjudged man of the match in the game against hosts Malaysia, while Amit Rohidas converted a total of two penalty corners.

TEAM INDIA:
Goalkeepers: Krishan B Pathak, P R Sreejesh. Defenders: Gurinder Singh, Surender Kumar (Vice-captain), Varun Kumar, Birendra Lakra, Amit Rohidas, Kothajit Singh Khadangbam. Midfielders: Hardik Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Sumit, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Manpreet Singh (Captain). Forwards: Mandeep Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Shilanand Lakra, Sumit Kumar.
High Performance Director: David John

RESULTS:
March 23: India (Varun Kumar 24-PC, Simranjeet Singh 55-FG) beat Japan 2-0. MoM: Varun Kumar.
March 24: India (Mandeep Singh 28-FG) drew with South Korea (Jonghyun Jang 60-PC) 1-1.
March 26: India (Sumit 17-FG, Sumit Kumar Jr 27-FG, Varun Kumar 47-PC, Mandeep Singh 58-FG) bea Malaysia (Firhan Ashari 57-FG) 4-2. MoM: Birendra Lakra.
March 27: India (Varun Kumar 12-PC, Mandeep Singh 20-FG, 27-FG, 29-FG, Amit Rohidas 39-PC, Vivek Sagar Prasad 55-FG, Nilakanta Sharma 58-FG) beat Canada (Mark Pearson 35-PC, Fin Boothroyd 50-FG, James Wallace 57-PC) 7-3. MoM: Mandeep Singh.
March 29: India (Vivek Sagar Prasad 1-FG, Sumit Kumar Jr 7-FG, Varun Kumar 18-PC, 25-PC, Surender Kumar 19-PC, Simranjeet Singh 29-FG, Nilakanta Sharma 36-FG, Mandeep Singh 50-FG, 51-FG, Amit Rohidas 55-PC) beat Poland 10-0. MoM: Mandeep Singh.
March 30 (Final): India (Simranjeet Singh 9-FG) lost to South Korea (Jang Jong-Hyun 47-PS) 1-1 (2-4) in penalty shootout. MoM: Jang Jong-Hyun.