GUANGZHOU: Fired-up national hockey team annexed the Asian Games men’s hockey gold medal after 20 years with a convincing 2-0 win over Malaysia in the final on Thursday.
Veteran Sohail Abbas put Pakistan ahead with the team’s first penalty corner in the 26th minute, before striker Rehan Butt increased the margin three minutes after half-time.
It was Pakistan’s eighth Asia hockey gold, ending a drought that stretched back to Beijing in 1990, and handed them their first major title since winning the World Cup in Sydney in 1994.
Pakistan ended the year on a high after a disappointing eight-month period in which they finished a humiliating last at the World Cup in March and took sixth place at the Commonwealth Games in October.
Meanwhile, squash player Aamir Atlas Khan avenged his singles final loss to Mohamad Azlan Iskandar as Pakistan won the men’s team title Thursday, preventing Malaysia from sweeping the Asian Games squash golds.
