Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Kuala Lumpur: Shin Jong-hoon scored his third hat-trick of the East Zone qualifiers as Korea Republic defeated Chinese Taipei 7-3 on Thursday to book their ticket to the 2012 AFC Futsal Championship.
Chinese Taipei, who finished second in Group B to set up the crucial clash with the Group A-winning Koreans, took a 16th minute lead at the Cheras Indoor Stadium through Lo Chih-en only for Jeong Eui-hyun to hit back instantly.
A minute later Shin, scorer of trebles in the Group Stage wins over Mongolia and Hong Kong, got the first of his hat-trick and added the second in the 16th minute to give the Koreans a 3-1 advantage at the break.
Kim Sun-ho netted number four in the 24th and after Shin completed his hat-trick five minutes later Jang Ming-yu got his name on the scoresheet with the Koreans' seventh and final goal with seven minutes left on the clock.
Chinese Taipei enjoyed a late fightback with goals from Weng Wei-pin (38th) and Huang Cheng-tsung (40th) to add some respectability to the final score-line but it there was never going to be enough time for Tsai Chia Feng's side, who will now take on Hong Kong on Friday for the third place from the East Zone in next year's tournament-proper. Korea Republic face fellow-qualifiers China, 8-1 conquerors of Hong Kong i, to determine the winners of the East Zone qualification tournament.