Hockey World Cup 2023, Day 5 Round-up: Lee's brace hands South Korea win over Japan; Germany holds Belgium

The 2023 FIH Men's Hockey World Cup continues in Odisha, while Day 5 commitments are being held on Tuesday at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar. With the day having just Pool B contests, the day's opening game happened to be between Asian rivals South Korea and Japan. It turned out to be a hard-fought game, while the former emerged victorious 2-1. The scoring began in the second minute when the Japanese put themselves ahead with the strike from Ken Nagayoshi, who baffled the defender to miss out on watching the ball. Seven minutes later, the Koreans pulled off the equaliser from Jungjun Lee after another defending howler from goalkeeper Takashi Yoshikawa.

In the second quarter, Lee fired Korea into the lead in the 24th, setting up the keeper in the wrong area and firing past his right. While the Japanese led 2-1 at half-time, it was an intense contest between the two. However, none found the back of the net, and eventually, Japan walked away with success.

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The match saw only a couple of bookings, both of which happened to be Koreans. While Manjae Jung saw a green card on the 28th, Heyongjin Kim was the second lad to see the same colour on the 58th. It was Korea's maiden triumph of the competition, taking it to the third spot, while the Japanese are virtually out of the quarterfinals race.

In the other Pool B game, Germany was up against Belgium at the same venue, which ended in a hard-fought 202 draw. It began when Cedric Charlier flicked in the opener for the latter after stealing the ball inside the box in the tenth. However, the former pulled back the equaliser in the 23rd, as goalkeeper Alexander Stadler failed to save Niklas Wellen's diagonal shot while it was 1-1 at half-time.

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After a calm third quarter, it was in the final quarter when the Germans gathered the lead, with Tom Grambusch flicking it in in the 53rd in what was a savable shot. At the same time, a couple of minutes later, the Belgian drew level, as Victor Wegnez utilised the ten-player situation of the opponent when Thies Prinz was out with a green card in the 53rd.

Besides Prinz, Christopher Ruhr of Germany was yellow-carded in the 60th, while Belgium's Tom Boon had earned a green in the 41st. The draw keeps the Belgians and the Germans at the top and second, respectively. While Belgium would play Japan on Friday, Germany will be up against South Korea on the same day, with the contests taking place at the Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium in Rourkela.