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China Stun Sri Lanka In Goal Avalanche (30/7/2011)

By Eddie dos Passos/HKHA

China vs Sri Lanka
Half-time: 5-0
Full-time: 10-0

By Eddie dos Passos/HKHA

China completed a lop-sided 10-0 semi-final walk in the park over Sri Lanka to book a place in the finals of the 3rd Men’s Junior AHF Cup at King’s Park.

Leading the rout for China was Ying Kai, who collected a brace with his 36th and 52nd minute field goals to set up an intriguing final with fellow Pool A rivals Singapore who also had a 4-1 win over Iran in the other semis’.

China coach Ti Liguang was pleased overall with the result but conceded that it had not been as easy going as it appeared against the speedy Sri Lankan side.

“If you look at the (10-0) result and compare it to the way we played, it was not as easy as you may have thought at all. It was a hard-earned effort going up against Sri Lanka,” Ti said.

“I had already warned my players that the semi-final was not going to be an easy game and that we had to remain focused throughout the match at all times,” he said.

Despite the high-scoring result, China showed patience as they toyed with the ball around in their search for a breach in the Sri Lankan wall.

That opening goal eventually came, compliments of a Wang Zipeng seventh minute penalty corner, and heralded the opening of the floodgates, as seven different Chinese players notched up single-digit goals to join Wang on the score-sheet.

Also joining Ying on two-goals was Guo Xiaoping, but it was China’s slick passing and short energy bursts that was to create havoc within the Sri Lankan camp as goalkeeping errors and defensive blunders began to mount up.

Sri Lankan coach Leelananda Ittapana was evidently unhappy with his side, saying he was not pleased with his team’s performance as they were no match for a China side, who had superior tactics, fitness and ball possession.

“I was disappointed with the performance of my team,” he said.

“We were poorly disorganized and could not recover in the second-half,” said Ittapana, whose side fell apart and posted a 5-0 result entering the break.

“They were free and easy goals,” he said. “Our players did not go for the rebounds and our second-half performance saw us miss at least four chances at goal.”

Ti said that while he had not initially expected a high scoring game, he knew China were the more aggressive side and were capable of producing the goods when needed.

In a space of thirteen minutes, China further extended their lead through Su Jun (10th), Du Zhimin (17th), and a Guo Xiaoping brace (17th and 23rd), for a formidable 5-0 half-time lead.

Ying Kai then grabbed the first of two goals, a minute upon resumption of the break, then saw China’s lead widen further from a 38th minute Ao Yang goal.

Then China’s E Wenhui, Ying Kai and Chen Yijia wrapped up proceedings with their goals coming in the 42nd, 52nd and 56th minutes respectively.

The edge is with China over Singapore in todays final when they beat them in the preliminary rounds 3-2 and it’s expected to be another good fight to the finish for the AHF Under-21 title.