Ireland boosted their hopes of reaching the London Olympics after holding highly-fancied South Korea to a 1-1 draw in their hockey qualifier at a sold-out Belfield in Dublin.
The hosts came close to stunning the Koreans, the world's sixth-ranked team, when they led through David Ames on 27 minutes but Hyun Woo-nam equalised in the second half following a penalty corner.
South Korea had been fully expected to clinch the one Olympic place on offer at this week's tournament but Ireland, who had won their opening two matches, could now sneak a place into Sunday's final.
Ireland and South Korea are both locked on seven points and look set to fight it out to meet Malaysia, who have won all three of their games so far, in the final.
The 16th-ranked Irish, who have never qualified for an Olympics, will meet lowly Chile on Thursday before a crucial meeting with Malaysia on Saturday.
