Eight-time Olympic champion India failed to qualify for the semifinals of the Asian Games men's field hockey after drawing its last preliminary round match against tile holder South Korea 1-1 Sunday.

India's Shivendra Singh (L) plays against Rabia Murshid Hawait (R) and Akram Jamaan Bait Shamiah of Oman during the Men's field hockey Preliminary League match at the 15th Asian Games in Doha December 8, 2006. [Reuters]

South Korea topped the Group B standings with 10 points from four matches, followed by China with nine points and India on seven points.

China's men made their maiden entry into the semifinals as India faltered in its desperate attempts to secure a late match-winner, which would have secured it the second place in the group.

This is the first time since the sport made its debut in the 1958 Asian Games that two-time winner India has failed to feature among the medalists.

"We paid dearly for losing our match against China, that was the turning point for us," Indian captain Dilip Tirkey said. "We played a good match against South Korea, but victory eluded us."

China's shock 3-2 victory was its first against India and the biggest upset in the history of the Asian Games.

The Asian Games debacle continued India's miserable run this year, during which it failed to make the semifinals of the Commonwealth Games in March and then finished 11th out of 12 teams in the World Cup in September.

"It's been a terrible year for us, this failure to make the Asian Games semifinal is obviously a big blow to Indian hockey," Tirkey said.

South Korea was already assured of its place in the semifinals. It played a relaxed game against India, whose strikers went all out in the second session. India conceded the lead against the run of play on Jang Jong-hyun's penalty corner goal in the 41st minute.

India struck back to equalize in the 57th as Raghunath Vokkaliga placed a drag-flicked penalty corner into the net, but the Koreans thwarted India's efforts to clinch a late match-winner.

"It's a huge disappointment, the game against China was a big setback," Indian coach Vasudevan Bhaskaran said.

"Our performance in the China match was pathetic," said Bhaskaran, who was put on notice by the Indian Hockey Federation after the team's poor World Cup showing.

Bhaskaran's fate now hangs in the balance as India has a repeatedly fired its hockey coaches after poor display.

"We've now got to prepare for the Olympic qualifiers and ensure we secure a place in the lineup for the Beijing games," said Bhaskaran.

Both finalists of the Asian Games will secure direct entry to the Olympics and China is assured of its place as the host, but other countries will play in one of the three qualifying events under the new format.

Three nations are chasing the two semifinal spots here in Group A, where Pakistan, Japan and Malaysia's fate will be decided later Sunday.