Asian Games champions Pakistan got off to a winning start Thursday when they beat New Zealand 4-2, breaking a run of five defeats at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup since 2008. The Pakistanis dominated the first half with two goals, the first coming in the third minute through Muhammad Rizwan Snr while Syed Kashif Shah added the second in the 24th from a penalty corner rebound.
In the 51st minute, Abdul Haseem Khan added the third goal from a field attempt after being put through by Shakeel Abbasi. But New Zealand fought back and from their third penalty corner Andrew Hayward scored their first goal in the 59th minute. But the Kiwis allowed Pakistan to hit back two minutes later through Mohammad Umar Bhuta. By then, the game was effectively over but New Zealand managed to get another goal in the 63rd minute off a field attempt by Hugo Inglis.
Pakistan team manager Khawaja Junaid said it was an important victory as opening matches were usually tougher. “I thank the Almighty for the win as it is a good start for us. We have several young players and they came away good as this is their first time playing in such humid conditions,” he said. Pakistan will play the Koreans on Friday while the Kiwis have two rest days before their match with South Korea on Sunday. In the last game of the day, Great Britain got off to a winning start when they defeated hosts Malaysia 3-1. The British will meet India on Friday while hosts Malaysia have a date with world number one Australia.
South Korea beat fellow defending champions India 3-2 in a stunning comeback from two goals down in one of the opening matches of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup on Thursday. Both teams are defending the title after being declared joint champions when heavy rain caused play to be abandoned last year, and they showed their mettle in an exhilarating match of two very different halves. India had the upper hand in the first half with early goals coming from Diwakar Ram and Danish Mujtaba. Ram struck from a penalty corner in the 20th minute while Majtaba scored with a reverse hit seven minutes later.
The Koreans, ranked sixth in the world, did not give up and pulled one back in the 31st minute through Cho Suk-Hoon from their third penalty corner. In the second half, they were the dominant team and had the Indians in sixes and sevens as they attacked the faltering Indian defence with relative ease. Yoon Sung-Hoon put them level in the 41st minute and Jang Jung-Hyun grabbed the winner with a penalty stroke conversion in the 56th. Indian coach Harinder Singh said his team lost the plot in the second half after two of their players, Mahdik Dhananjay and Shivendra Singh, were injured.
“The Koreans are always fast with their game and in the second half applied a lot of pressure on us. The players failed to say focused and we paid the price by letting them get the goals,” he said. India will play Great Britain on Friday.
