MUSCAT: Pakistan and India have been crowned as joint champions of the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy after the final of the tournament was forfeited due to adverse weather conditions resulting from continuous rain.
The match, which ended in a draw, was to be played at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat on Sunday.
The Men in Green qualified for the fifth Asia Cup final after beating Malaysia in the penalty shootout. India edged out Japan 3-2 in their semi-final match to set up the big clash.
This was the second contest between Pakistan and India. In their earlier meeting, India beat Pakistan 3-1.
The last time the sub-continent rivals met in the final of the tournament was in 2016 when India defeated Pakistan 3-2 to lift the title for the second time. Both India and Pakistan have won the trophy twice with Pakistan winning the title in 2012 and 2013 while India was named champions in 2011 and 2016.
The green shirts won three of its five matches, losing one and drawing two. They defeated South Korea 3-1 in the opening match of the tournament while they lost to arch-rivals India 3-1.
This was followed by an 8-1 thrashing of hosts Oman, 1-1 draw against Japan and a 1-0 win against Malaysia to book a place in the semi-final.