Busan: Indian hockey coach Rajinder Singh fully backed his players despite the team's 3-4 title clash loss to South Korea in the Asian Games on Saturday saying they tried their best to win the gold.

Rajinder Singh, however, admitted that the forwards, full backs and the goal-keeper were found wanting in the first half which resulted in Korea slapping two goals on the team.

"The Koreans did surprise us. We failed to click for the full 35 minutes. The forwards, full-backs and the goal-keeper were not up to the mark," he said. But praising the team for not giving up despite trailing 0-3, the coach said,

"We had complete ball possession in the second half. We came back strongly and the players tried their best to retain their gold." India, which had drubbed arch-rival Pakistan in the semi-finals, had to settle for silver after it conceded a goal in the dying minutes.

In recent matches, India have shown a tendency to concede goals in dying minutes and either lose or draw matches from wining positions. But the coach downplayed this weakness of the team saying, "Hockey is so fast now-a-days, anything can happen anytime...you cannot spare even a minute."

He also pointed out that India was weakened by the injuries to Prabhjot Singh and Tejbir Singh. Rajinder Singh was pleased with his team's overall showing in the Games. "I am happy with the team's performance. We want to carry on in the same vein and continue to do well in all upcoming assignments."

Indian team manager Hardeep Singh Dhillon was also a content man though he said, "India could have won the gold as it had its chances in the second half."

"Luck also favoured the hosts," he said but refused to comment on the standard of umpiring.

PTI