China held Korea to a draw, Chongkong Chen scored the first point in the tournament

Chennai: Having conceded 12 goals in their opening two matches, China showed commendable discipline to hold South Korea to a 1-1 draw in the Asian Champions Trophy 2023 on Sunday. Korea took the lead through Jonghyung Jang (18th minute) but earned their first point of the tournament after a goal from China’s Chongkong Chen (43rd minute). Korea put pressure on their opponent in the first quarter, but China made a big improvement in defense after forgetting the previous two defeats and made the opponent team work hard for the first goal.

It was Zhang who made the first effort for Korea. Zhang played an aerial shot and took the ball to China’s circle. Hyesung Lee, standing there, tried to reach the ball from the right side into the net but China’s goalkeeper Caiu Wang stopped him in time. Korea’s first goal finally came from a penalty corner in the 18th minute when Zhang fired his drag-flick into the net between Wang’s legs. For China, Qijun Chen made several passes into the Korean circle but all efforts went in vain as Korea led 1-0 at half time.

Korea kept possession of the ball in the second half as well. Kim would have doubled Korea’s lead with a powerful shot in the opening minutes of the half but could not get past Wang. After that, however, China began to claw their way back into the contest, scoring several shots on Korea’s goalposts before the end of the third quarter. China put pressure on the opposition team with several successful attempts to break into the Korean half from the right flank. The pressure paid off for China in the 43rd minute when Dongquan Pan found the ball in the Korean circle and Chen equalized.

A few minutes later, Pan could have given China the lead with Weijiang Zhu’s pass but this time his shot was off target. After China came back into the match, Korea created chances in the 45th and 54th minutes, but both times Wang found himself in front of the goal post. In the last two minutes of the match, a short corner by Zhang’s drag flick went to Kim, however he could not hit the target and the match ended in a draw.