Pakistan on all fours

dhaka, October 21

A dominant India continued their unbeaten run in the tournament and thrashed archrivals Pakistan 4-0 to sail into the final of the 10th men’s Asia Cup hockey tournament here today.

The world No. 6 India, who just needed a draw to seal a place in tomorrow’s summit clash, produced a superlative performance after the change of ends to pump in four goals — three field strikes and one through a penalty corner.

Satbir Singh (39th minute), Harmanpreet Singh (51st), Lalit Upadhyay (52nd) and Gurjant Singh (57th) were the scorers for India.

By virtue of this win, India not only topped the Super 4 stage with seven points, but also continued their domination over Pakistan. It was India’s fourth win over Pakistan this year, having beaten them twice in the Hockey World League Semifinals in London and once in the pool stage here. The defeat knocked Pakistan out of the race for the final. 

India vs Malaysia in final 

India will now play Malaysia, who drew with South Korea 1-1 in another Super 4 stage match, in the summit clash.

Contrary to the result, the Indians were slow to get off the blocks, while Pakistan were the better side in terms of possession in the first two quarters. Pakistan had three chances via penalty corners in the first quarter. The Indians secured the first penalty corner in the final minute of the opening quarter, but the ball slipped off Harmanpreet’s stick and he got tangled up trying to get it out of his feet. After Ramandeep Singh’s shot was saved by Pakistan goalkeeper Amjad Ali in the 23rd minute, India defended well to deny their rivals from another short corner.

Minutes later, Harmanpreet hit the crossbar from India’s second penalty corner as both the teams failed to break the deadlock by halftime.

India looked more organised after the change of ends and dominated the proceedings in the final two quarters. In the 39th minute, a quick-passing move saw Satbir get the ball at the right with a clear run into the circle. Instead of shooting at goal, he passed towards Gurjant at the far post, but the ball took a deflection off a Pakistan defender’s stick to loop over the on-rushing goalkeeper. Minutes later, Harmanpreet’s effort, high towards the left corner, from India’s third set-piece was saved by Amjad Ali.

The Indians created chances in the final few minutes of the third quarter but Ali was up to the mark to keep Pakistan in the hunt. India wasted two more penalty corners in a span of two minutes as Ali made multiple saves to deny their opponents.

India pressed on the gas in the final 10 minutes and scored three goals in six minutes to run away with the game. Harmanpreet scored his seventh goal of the tournament from India’s sixth penalty corner, wrong-footing Ali with a perfect feint — the drag-flicker aimed towards the right corner before twisting his body to fire into the left corner.

Upadhyay made it 3-0 a minute later by pouncing on a loose ball inside the circle. India added salt to Pakistan’s wounds when Gurjant slotted home three minutes from the final hooter after receiving a precise pass from Akashdeep Singh from the right.

S Korea out of World Cup

Faizal Saari’s 59th-minute equaliser dashed South Korea’s hopes of qualifying for next year’s World Cup. South Korea needed to win the tournament to seal a World Cup berth and the defending champions were just minutes away from taking a step closer to their goal. But Saari cancelled out Jihun Yang’s 24th-minute goal to break Korean hearts. Korea will next play Pakistan in the bronze-medal match. — PTI

India 4-0 Pakistan

• Satbir Singh (39th minute)
• Harmanpreet Singh (51st minute)
• Lalit Upadhyay (52nd minute)
• Gurjant Singh (57th minute)

India’s 4 wins this year

• bt Pak 4-0 (Asia Cup Super 4)
• bt Pak 3-1 (Pool stage)
• bt Pak 6-1 (HWL Semis)
• bt Pak 7-1 (HWL Semis)