Coinciding with the full-time hooter, Zaidi awarded a disputable 13th penalty corner to Korea and Keon Wook Kang made an indirect conversion. Yong Kyun Jeong, who had started the Korean attack in the final seconds, had actually trod on the ball before cracking it into the circle leading to the penalty corner.

As Zaidi signalled the goal which brought the match to an end, Indian skipper Dhanraj Pillay rushed on to the field and was seen arguing with Zaidi whose handling of the match today was a shame on the entire umpiring fraternity.

Fortunately, a potentially explosive situation was quickly defused by physiotherapist Gunasekar who pulled Pillay aside before the centre-forward could take law into his own hands.Zaidi was swiftly packed off to the umpires' room, but the damage had been done.

The Koreans, too, suffered from Zaidi's decisions in the first-half, one of which led to a goal for India. In this context, the Indians cannot simply offer bad umpiring as a reason for their third straight defeat which will probably see them fighting for 9-12 positions.

India were unsettled when Yong Kyun Jeon made an indirect penalty corner conversion (4th min) and before the Indians could recover, Seong Tae Song made it 2-0 in the10th. It was virtually gifted to the Koreans. Rajesh Chauhan mispassed to Yong Kyun Jeong who found Song with a through ball. Song made no mistake.

Chauhan made amends with a neat deflection of Anil Aldrin's penalty corner hit in the 28th, and immediately on resumption, Sabu Varkey found the net after going in on Dilip Tirkey's long hit. Encouraged by the success, the Indians applied pressure and Samir Dad put them ahead for the first time in the match when he diverted a Md Riaz free-hit in theeighth minute.

Then followed a prolonged spell of Korean domination and the Indian defence cracked under pressure. Korea equalised in the 24th minute when Seok Kyo Shin scored from a penalty corner.

As the minutes ticked by, a draw looked certain when Zaidi stepped in and wrote his own script by awarding Korea a penalty corner on the stroke of full-time.

While due concessions need to be made for Zaidi's umpiring, the fact was that it held good for both the teams. But then, the factor which finally undid India was their penchant to miss chances with Pillay himself messing up two easiest of opportunities. Small wonder then that he was pulled out at half-time and only made a brief appearance in the second-half.

In spells, India moved extremely well, but consistency was never a virtue. Obviously, India's hopes of salvaging some pride following two straight defeats, was with the forward line. But then, Pillay was totally ineffective. Mukesh Kumar and Sabu Varkey shouldered much of the load with smallcontributions from Chauhan and Dad.

India's midfield, as in the previous game, was in shambles. Centre-half Riaz strove manfully, but it was very apparent that he was nowhere near his best, least of all his recovery. The deep defence yet again committed errors which only brought pressure on them.

On their part, the Koreans excelled with their set-piece play, though they hardly looked the part as the Asian champions. Like India, they played well in patches, and were more dangerous when on the attack with swift passing and positioning among the forwards.

In the final analysis, while India did not deserve to lose on the day, the Koreans can consider themselves lucky to pick up three points. And for Zaidi, he was a misfit to umpire at the World Cup, but then, the International Hockey Federation has done little to ensure that only the best get the job. The Zaidis of the World continue to abound and cause embarrassment.

Monday's fixtures (MEN - IST): Malaysia vs Australia (6.35 p.m.), Pakistan vsSpain (9.05 p.m), England vs Poland (10.05 p.m.).

INDIA NOT TO PROTEST

UTRECHT: India will not file a formal protest on Pakistani umpire Irfan Zaidi's decision to award a penalty corner to Korea after the full-time hooter was blown in a pool A match of the men's World Cup hockey tournament, here on Sunday. Korea converted the penalty corner for a 4-3 victory.

Indian Hockey Federation secretary-general K Jothikumaran said: "The penalty corner was awarded just after the full-time hooter went. But there is no point in lodging a protest, because we know for a fact that the tournament committee will go by the umpire's decision. I am totally disappointed at the turn of events."

Coach Vasudevan Baskaran, barely able to contain his frustration, said: "The technical table itself admitted that the penalty corner was awarded after the hooter. But tell me, what can we do about it ? Perhaps, the table officials should have stepped in and informed the umpire that the match had ended and the penalty corner benullified."

According to rules, a penalty corner must be completed if it coicides with half-time or full-time. As such, the teams had to go through with the penalty corner at the end of the match. However, it is a moot point whether the hooter could be heard at all amidst the noise in the stadium, but those close to the bench categorically stated that the penalty corner was awarded after the match had technically ended. Zaidi, on his part, was booed and jeered by the crowd and but for swift action on part of the officials in rushing him into the tunnell leading to the umpires' room, the situation would have gone out of hand.