India thrash Korea to storm into Asian Champions Trophy semis

Dragflicker Harmanpreet Singh scored a hat-trick as defending champions India defeated South Korea 4-1 in their final round robin match to keep a clean slate and storm into the semi-finals of the Asian Champions Trophy in Muscat on Wednesday.

By virtue of this win, India are top of the standings with 13 points from five games.

Both India and Malaysia have already qualified for the last four stage of the tournament.

Malaysia still has a game left against Pakistan on Thursday while Asian Games gold medalist Japan will take on hosts Oman.

Harmanpreet (4th, 47th and 59th minutes) converted three penalty corners for India, while Gurjant Singh Singh scored the other from a field effort in the 10th minute.

For South Korea, Lee Seungil scored a brilliant field goal in the 20th minute.

The semi-final line-up will be decided after the last round robin matches on Thursday.

India had earlier thrashed hosts Oman 11-0 before outclassing arch-rivals Pakistan 3-1. In their last two match, India mauled reigning Asian Games gold medalist Japan 9-0 before being held by old nemesis Malaysia to a goalless draw.