Busan: In a serious setback to its medal hopes, the Indian women's hockey team suffered a humiliating 0-5 loss to South Korea on Monday to crash to its second successive defeat in the Asian Games.

The Indian team, which had won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, is in danger of returning without a medal from this four-cornered competition unless it beats Japan by a big margin in its last league match.

Japan shocked favourites China earlier in the day with a 2-1 victory that left the field wide open.

South Korea assured itself of a place in the final with the victory but the second finalist will be decided only after the final round of matches on Wednesday.

The host players proved far superior to the Indians and enjoyed the ball possession for most part of the match. That the Indians got their first and only shot at the goal in the 41st minute was ample indication of the Korean dominance.

The Koreans were much better organised both in attack and defence, while the Indians looked clueless and a disjointed unit.

PTI