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India

Hyderabad, October 25

India got themselves into rough weather before overcoming a spirited Nigeria 5-3 to book a berth in the semifinals of the men's hockey at the Afro-Asian Games here on Saturday.

The powerplay of the determined Nigerians, particularly in the second half, together with some listless display by the hosts caused a few anxious moments but finally they managed to pull off the win to keep their slate clean in the competition.

Len Aiyappa struck twice while the other goals came from Deepak Thakur, Sandeep Michael and Dileep Tirkey.

For Nigeria, Segun Admisoro scored a brace and Auwolo Lomido brought up the third.

The Indian win also assured a berth for Pakistan in the semifinals from Pool B.

Earlier, South Korea beat South Africa 2-0 for a place in the last four from Pool A.

Though India won the first ever match played between the two sides, their jitery performance could not have come at a worse time since they would be playing Pakistan in their last league match, billed as the game of the tournament.

Probably everyone thought the match was as good as over after India went to the breather with a solid 3-0 lead at the half-time. But the second half saw a dramatic twist in the tale as the visitors scored their first goal through Admisoro Segun.

Aiyappa then struck his first goal in the 56th minute to stretch India's lead to 4-1 but Nigeria stunned the packed stadium with two quick goals from Ademisoro and Lomido in the 61st and 67th minutes respectively.

With time running out, the Nigerians made a determined attempt to find the equaliser but Aiyappa, the penalty corner expert in the team after the injured absence of Jugraj Singh, struck in the penultimate minute to seal the match for India.

Earlier, a resurgent Pakistani side beat Egypt 3-1 while South Korea poured water on South Africa's medal hopes by beating them 2-0.

The second semifinalists from Pool A will be determined tomorrow when South Korea take on Malaysia and South Africa play Ghana.

While South Africa are sitting on one point, Malaysia are with four points from two matches with one win and a draw. Malaysia need just a draw to qualify.

India, who started attacking on the opposition post from the word go, managed leeway into the opposition camp thrice in the first minute itself of the match although they failed to capitalise on these opportunities.

Cheered by the partisan crowd, which pepped up the team during every move it made, India had full control on the game in the initial part.

But as the match progressed, the hosts slowed down a bit that allowed the opposition to make some good moves led by Ogodogu Sunday and Baba Ndana.

Infact, Ndana even came close to score once when he took everyone by surprise by making a counter move and made an attempt at the goal with a powerful shot. But for an alert goalie in Devesh Chauhan, the Asia Cup champions would have had the ignominy of conceding the lead to the underdogs.

The spectators, getting restless due to India's inability to score against the minnows, finally saw the hosts taking the lead when Dilip Tirkey converted a penalty corner in the 23rd minute.

The next goal took only three minutes to come when a Prabhjot Singh pass found Deepak Thakur inside the scoring area and the Punjab forward had enough time to execute a perfect lifting reverse flick that hit the goalkeeper before entering into the net.

The third goal for the hosts three minutes before the half time with Sandeep Michael hitting to the top of the net

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