Pakistan finished third in Group A after they were held to a 2-2 draw by France at the World Hockey League Semi-Finals at the KHC Dragons Stadium.
It was a fast-paced match and France stunned Pakistan by taking the lead in the 21st minute. Simon Brisacs’ hit from the top of the D was accidentally deflected into goal by a Pakistani defender.
Mohamed Waqas put Pakistan on level terms with a field goal in the 36th minute. But two minutes later, France were back on top with a strike from Charles Masson.
Mohamed Dilber saved Pakistan the blushes when he scored the equaliser in the 45th minute.
Pakistan coach Shannaz Sheikh was disappointed with his team’s performance, saying they were not up to par.
“We didn’t play well and were slow. We have to improve greatly in the quarter-finals. We’re not sure whom we will play but it will not be easy at all,” said Shannaz.
Like Pakistan, France will also have to wait for the completion of the Group B matches to know their last-eight opponents. All the quarter-final matches will be held on Wednesday.
AUS THRASHES INDIA:
India’s undefeated run in the Hockey World League (HWL) semi-final was broken courtesy of a rampant Australia, who emerged victorious 6-2. Both teams were assured of the top 2 spots in Pool A as Pakistan had earlier drawn against France. Australia, the top-ranked team, came into the match with three wins in three while Rupinder Pal Singh was unable to shake off his injury in time and India had to play without a specialist drag-flicker.
After the initial exchanges, Australia took the lead in the 8th minute when Aran Zalewski’s shot nutmegged PR Sreejesh and gave the Hockeyroos the lead. Jamie Dwyer created the goal and found Zalewski brilliantly, who took a touch and finished with aplomb.
2 minutes before the quarter ended, the man who created the first goal found the target after a brilliant run. After receiving the ball in the Indian circle by Blake Govers, he went past 2 defenders and hit a reverse shot to double Australia’s advantage.
Australia started the second quarter just where they left off in the first and pushed Paul van Ass’s side deep in their own half. India were lucky to not go three behind in the third minute of the second quarter when a shot went blazing past the Indian goal. The Indians came back strongly and penetrated the Australian D on a few occasions, but were unable to trouble Tyler Lovell, the Australian goalie.
For all of India’s pressure in the second quarter, Australia were awarded a penalty corner in the 26th minute and Christopher Ciriello stepped up to take it. His initial shot was saved by Sreejesh, but the ball rolled back to Ciriello, who made no mistake this time around, sending the ball into the bottom corner to make it 2. Sreejesh had to be on his toes in the 29th minute when the tournament top-scorer, Blake Govers’ top-corner bound shot was plucked out by the Indian custodian.
