South Korea beat China 3-0 at the men' s hockey of Doha Asian Games on Friday.
Chinese goalkeeper Su Rifeng made three crucial saves in the opening seven minutes, however the deadlock was broken in the ninth minute when Yeo Woon Kon was at the right spot to tap in a rebound from a shot by You Hyo Sik.
South Korean leading scorer Jang Jong Hyun made it 2-0 in the 26th minute, his powerful penalty corner flick beating Su and increasing his goal tally in the competition to 12.
Jang then saw his next penalty corner flick hit the post to deny South Korea their third goal before half time.
The start of the second half was delayed for 10 minutes after a lighting failure, but when play resumed, Seo Jong Ho increased Korea's lead to 3-0 in the 41st minute. Seo dribbled his way down the left flank and his weak push in the semicircle was deflected into his own net by Hu Huiren.
As rain started to fall at Al-Rayyan Sports Club, the players had difficulty controlling the ball and the play became sloppy.
The 3-0 win over China was good enough to put Korea in the driver's seat for their crucial match against India.
"I'm upset about this result, I know our opponents are stronger than us. I don't think it's a big gap but we still lost. Today we tried to beat South Korea. I also prepared some special tactics but we didn't have many chances to score," said China's coach Kim Sangryul.
"We know how to play with India and Pakistan, but we have less experience playing with South Korea. South Korea is a very fast side. When we play with them, we have to make decisions very quickly."
India defeated Oman 9-0. They must beat South Korea in the next match in order to qualify for the semifinals.
India poured on the goals in the second half as they looked to boost their goal difference ahead of their final must-win match with the undefeated South Koreans.