After taking time to settle down and seeing off some inspired play by the Uzbeks, India struck in the 28th minute when Pritam Takhran deflected Sandeep Kaur's goalbound penalty corner hit. Then, past the 13th minute in the second session, Jyoti Kullu put home from a goalmouth scramble for the insurance goal which was just as well since the Uzbeks managed to score in the 28th minute as Elena Inyakina found the boards from a Kensaeva pass.

The victory put India atop the league standings with a tally of nine points, the same as Korea. The teams have the same goal-difference of plus-15, and also have scored and conceded equal number of goals (17 for, two against). India take on the Koreans on Sunday evening and the result will have a lot of bearing on the former's medal chances.

The manner in which the Uzbeks began, it must have sentshivers down the spines of the Indian players. Kensaeva and Mamedova, the hardworking Uzbek forwards, were real threats to the Indian defence which all but buckled under tremendous pressure.

On Sunday, the Indians need to up their game much more if they hope to even draw with the Koreans who seem to be on a roll. Two tough matches on consecutive days will be hardly to India's liking, but then, there is little that could be done about it at this stage.

EASY FOR CHINA: Earlier, China swept to a 8-0 win for their second win in three outings which kept them afloat in the race for the medals.Three goals each by Jiuyan Wang and Huiping Yang featured in the Chinese victory, while other goals came from Lije Liu and skipper Hui Cheng.

KOREAN MEN CRUISE: Korea made the best of an easy offering by putting to sword Singapore 9-0 in a Pool B league match of the men's hockey competition, here on Saturday. Spearheading the Korean goal-glut were Seung-Tae Song (3), veteran Shin-Heum Park (2) andJeong-Chul Kim (2), while Young-Kyu Kim and Yong-Kyun Jeong scored one apiece.

It was Korea's third win in as many outings, and with a tally of nine points, looked certain to qualify for the semifinals from the pool.

JAPAN WIN: Earlier, Japan kept their hopes alive in pool A by overcoming Hong Kong 7-2. Kotaro Iwayama (2), A Takehara, Shuji Fukasawa, Terukiyo Asai, T Yamabori and Shinji Iwata scored for the Japanese who then allowed Hong Kong to hit back with goals by Farooq Saeed an Asghar Ali in the last four minutes.

Japan have six points from three matches, having lost to Malaysia narrowly, which could prove decisive at the conclusion of the league.

PAK STRUGGLE: In the day's final match, Pakistan maintained their unbeaten record in pool A by edging out Malaysia 2-1.