Tour of Europe: Pakistan U21 register second victory

Defeat Dutch hockey club Schaerweijde 4-1 to maintain winning run

KARACHI: The Pakistan U21 hockey team defeated Dutch hockey club Schaerweijde 4-1 yesterday to register their second win on their tour of Europe.

Pakistan had earlier defeated Voordaan Hockey Club 6-3 in their opening match and following that win with another to maintain their winning run.

The green shirts drew first blood in the match when Sohail Riaz converted a penalty corner in the 13th minute and added to their tally 15 minutes later when Shan Irshad found the net through another penalty corner.

Bilal Qadir then made it 3-0 when he hit the ball past the goalkeeper in the 33rd minute and Dilber Hussain completed the rout when he scored in the 46th. The hosts were only able to score a consolation goal.

Head coach Tahir Zaman praised the team’s efforts and credited the training for getting the best out of the players. “They are responding to the training and their fitness levels are great,” Zaman told The Express Tribune. “Not only did the players put in a remarkable performance, they also avoided the mistakes they made in the previous match.”

He further said, “The other teams and their coaches are surprised to see our players performing so well; the opponents were hardly given a chance to attack.”

Meanwhile, team captain Dilber said that practicing at the venue before the match helped the players a lot. “We practiced at this ground on Thursday and that helped us gain confidence to perform in front of the Dutch crowd,” he said. “We will be putting our best in the next matches so that we will be able to win against Spain’s junior team.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2016.

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