Korea and Pakistan may have been the two dominant teams in the tournament so far, but that didn’t show in the the final of the Asia Cup on Saturday. It wasn’t just the fact that no goals were scored till the last five minutes of the game, but even the intensity of of a title clash — with World Cup qualification at stake — was absent.

For both teams it was more about tactics and trying to keep the ball in play, as they only tried scoring through the rare defensive lapse from the opposition. Korea emerged the winners by a lone goal to win their third title in four attempts. They also tied Pakistan as three-time winners.

Kim Byung Hoon sounded the board through a direct hit off a penalty corner in the 66th minute for the winner.

In the bronze medal play-off, China got past Malaysia after the match went into penalty strokes.

The teams were tied 3-3 at the end of regulation time, as China came back thrice from behind. In the tie-breaker, the teams were again tied 3-3 before Fiqri missed the net and Sun Tian Jun successfully converted.