New Zealand survived waves of South Korean attacks before pulling off a 2-1 upset victory to keep alive their semifinal hopes in the hockey World Cup in New Delhi on Friday .
The Black Sticks, ranked three places below their opponents at eighth, scored through Andrew Hayward (fourth minute) and Dean Couzins (22nd) in their third Pool A match. South Korea pulled one back with Lee Nam Yong scoring from a penalty stroke in the last minute.
The Kiwis defended their citadel admirably well against the Koreans who did most of the attacking throughout the match in front of a handful of spectators at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium.
With today's victory, New Zealand kept themselves in contention for a semifinal berth with two wins and a loss from three matches. They have two more matches to play -- against Argentina and Germany.
With a draw and a win from three matches, South Korea are not out of contention but they will find it difficult to make it to the semifinals as they play Canada and the Netherlands in their remaining matches.
South Korea were to blame themselves as they did most of the attacking throughout the match and failed to score from seven penalty corners they got in the match -- six in the second half itself. PTI
