Pakistan qualify for semi-final of FIH Hockey Nations Cup

Team Green will face New Zealand in the next round,

WARSAW
Pakistan lost to France by 6-5 in the National Cup hockey tournament. Pakistan was down in the first two quarters however in the 3rd and 4th quarter they staged a comeback. At one time the score was 5-5 equal but then France took lead when it scored a goal on penalty corner. Pakistan played poorly in the first two quarters and conceded unnecessary penalty corners. The forward line performed poor also thus putting extra burden on the defence line.

Star players Rana Waheed and Shahid unfortunately could not perform well. The Pakistan goalkeeper Abdullah put up a dismal performance as usual. He conceded straight goals. During the entire game he remained absent thus providing the French attackers with ample chances of goal scoring. Pakistan qualifies for the semi-final on the basis of a better score average. However, the best was yet to come as the Green Shirts played an attacking game and scored five more goals, leaving no room for the Canadian side. What was more impressive than Pakistan’s five goals in the last quarter was that all of them came in the last 10 minutes.

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In the first match against Malaysia, Pakistan made an excellent comeback and secured a draw with a last-minute goal. Malaysia had a three-goal lead in the first quarter but Pakistan, known for their resilience, didn’t give up and levelled the match. Pakistan will now face France in their final pool match of the tournament on June 5. Top two teams from each pool will qualify for the semi-finals of the event.
Canada started showing their aggressive side in the second half and were rewarded in the 41st minute when Rooopkanwar Dhillon’s powerful penalty corner snuck in.

But the celebrations were short-lived as Muhajir Abdu Rauf’s shot was deflected off an unlucky, Thomson Harris. For all their efforts, the Malaysians couldn’t keep a cool head and disciplinary issues almost cost them. Maansarovar Sidhu came up with a clever finish in the 51st minute to take advantage as Faris Harizan got a 10-minute yellow card towards the end of the third quarter. In the end, Malaysians came up with the goods to see off the game.

Marhan Jalil of Malaysia won the player of the match and said: “We had good motivation to play today. We started well and only scored one penalty corner. We will study our videos to increase the percentage of our conversion.”