Pakistan’s Strong Finish Fifth Place in Asian Hockey Champions Trophy
Pakistan secured the fifth position in the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy by dominating China with a resounding 6-1 victory on Friday.
The Pakistani team, known as the Green Shirts, exhibited a commanding performance from the start, seizing a formidable 4-0 lead during the first quarter of the match.
Although China managed to score a goal in the third quarter, they faced a further setback as Pakistan added two more goals, concluding the match with a five-goal margin.
Leading the scoreboard for Pakistan were Mohammad Ammad and Mohammad Sufyan, each contributing two goals. Hanan Shahid and Abdul Rana also made their mark with one goal each.
China’s lone goal in the match was netted by Benhai Chen through a penalty corner in the 35th minute.
Earlier, Pakistan’s hockey team faced elimination from the race for the semi-finals of the Asian Champions Trophy, suffering a 4-0 defeat against their arch-rivals, India, in Chennai on Wednesday.
This marked the first instance where Pakistan failed to secure a top-four position since the inception of the Asian Champions Trophy.
During the round-robin stage of the tournament, Pakistan, Japan, and Korea all accumulated the same number of points. However, the latter two teams progressed to the semi-finals due to superior goal differences.
Throughout this stage, the Green Shirts secured only one win out of five games. Their initial match in the event ended with a 3-1 loss against Malaysia. Subsequently, they drew against Korea (1-1) and Japan (3-3) in consecutive matches.
Pakistan’s sole victory in the tournament came against China, with a score of 2-1, leaving China at the bottom of the points table with a single point.
Later today, the first semi-final will witness Malaysia facing Korea, followed by India competing against Japan in the second semi-final.
The final match and the match for third and fourth place are scheduled for tomorrow.
