Great Britain bounced back from a lethargic start to beat New Zealand 4-2 and finish third in the 20th edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup on Sunday. Last year's joint champions South Korea and India battled it out for fifth spot in a repeat of 2010's washed-out final with the Koreans prevailing in a 2-1 victory.
New Zealand were the early aggressors against Great Britain, forcing a penalty corner in the fourth minute. Andrew Hayward had the ball in the net but Pakistani umpire Waqas Ahmad Butt ordered a re-take, with the shot this time saved by British keeper Nicholas Brothers.
Though Great Britain were awarded another three penalty corners, the New Zealand defenders were quick to anticipate the set piece and snuffed out the danger.
In the 20th minute New Zealand struck off their second penalty corner as Hayward played the ball towards the goal and pusher Stephen Jenness rushed in for a neat deflection that sailed over the outstretched Brothers to put the Kiwis 1-0 up.
Richard Mantell finally got the better of Kyle Pontifex in the 34th minute, off Great Britain's fifth penalty corner to level the score at half time.
In the 51st minute, Daniel Richard Fox cut through the centre of the Kiwi defence and laid up a pass for Robert Moore on the left whose shot sailed past Pontifex to put the Brits 2-1 up. And in the 59th minute, Richard Smith sent in a low flick from a penalty corner that put his team 3-1 ahead while Matthew Daly added the fourth in the 65th minute.
Blair Hilton netted New Zealand's second in the 69th minute but it was clearly Great Britain's game.
British coach Jason Lee was pleased with the team's second half effort.
"We did not start off well but got the game going in the second half. The players did better once they had equalised and the pressure came off them. We are happy that we finished third and it will motivate the players to work harder at their game," he said. Last year's finalists were reduced to playing for minor positions this time around.
South Korea went ahead through Nam Hyun-Woo in the 11th minute before Jang Jong-Hyun added a second in the 21st to put the Koreans firmly in charge.
India's Vikram Pillay pulled one back early in the second half but an anticipated charge never materialised from the one-time hockey giants.
Tt was a second win over India in the tournament for the Koreans, ranked sixth in the world, after they took the opening encounter 3-2.
South Korea coach Shin Seok-Kyu said his team knew how to beat India and had stuck to their game plan.
"But in the second half we were a little casual and this gave the Indians a chance to hit back. But luckily, we were able to hold on to our lead," he said.
His counterpart Harinder Singh said: "It was still a mixed game and we played well only in patches. "At this level that is not enough. We have learnt a lot in this tournament and we need to ensure that what has been learnt will be put to good use.
"It is sad we finished sixth but we were in the fight for a better position until the end. So that was a good aspect."
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