Pakistan had the first major opening as Muhammad Arslan Qadir hit the outside of the goal, following some great piece of skill from Muhammad Dilber. However, Australia opened the scoring through Jeremy Hayward from a penalty corner rebound in the 23rd minute.
Simon Orchard was then denied a goal by a stunning Imran Butt save and Matt Gohdes could find no way past the defender on the line with the follow-up.
Butt also tipped a drag-flick over the bar to keep Pakistan in with a sniff going into the final quarter. There were chances for Pakistan to find an unlikely equaliser, but the match was over when Hayward flicked home his second with seven minutes remaining and Jacob Whetton completed the scoring with 90 seconds to go.
“I tried to keep the game going and made several saves, but in this format, the entire team has to play together in order to save or score goals, which was missing again,” said Butt. “We did our best and now will have to face a very strong team in the quarter-final.”
The keeper added that his side was unable to read the movement of the Australian players due to the lack of exposure the players have against European and Australian sides. “We would have won the match if we had played against European or Australian teams before.”
Other results
In the other matches of the day, Argentina defeated Germany 3-0 to claim second place in Pool B, while Germany finished bottom.
India claimed an unlikely 3-2 win over the Netherlands to leapfrog Germany into third.
Whereas, in the Pool A match, England drew their final fixture with Belgium 1-1 to lead the pool as Belgium finished second.
The quarter-finals
Pakistan will now face Netherlands, the top side from Pool B, while Pool B bottom side Germany will face Pool A leader England in the quarter-finals on December 11.
Argentina, second in Pool B, will lock horns against third-placed Pool A side Australia, while Belgium, second in Pool A, will face third-placed Pool B side India.
Correction: In an earlier version of this article, it was erroneously mentioned that India finished bottom in Pool B. The error is regretted.
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COMMENTS (14)
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Still with Pakistan Hockey..If 10% of interest from Govt. was shown for the better career of hockey result was different.
@Pakistan Needs a Batman: India finished third not last. Germany is last in their group. India defeated Netherlands. ET pls correct the glaring error in your report. Be factual that's the basics of journalism.
@Mirza: Your comments hold true for Pakistan and not for India. India is developing its domestic sport structure. Today India's domestic hockey, cricket, soccer and many other circuits are attracting international players. It will certainly help India in the long run. However, for Pakistan, we are losing even whatever we had, mostly to corruption, nepotism and to sheer incompetence.
@Pakistan Needs a Batman:
Please refer @sonny
Please do not drag India when you discuss your issues as India has lots of potential and resources. By the way India defected Netherlands 3-2 and finished 3rd.
@Pakistan Needs a Batman: India finished 3rd and not last and beat the Netherlands 3-2.
Hi All, Correction to the Article : India beat Netherlands in the final pool match and thus placed third in the group Germany is pushed to fourth. Moreover as a follower of Indian hockey i can say that this is a different team with good expectations. They won a series against Australia 2-1 before champions trophy in Australia. In this tournament they were beaten by a goal with 30 sec left to play until Germany and lost the lead twice before loosing to Argentina and beat the Dutch. Hope to see Indian hockey regain its glory and wish pakistan does the same. Love to see India vs Pak final in the hockey championships.
Pool A Bottom Side: Pakistan Pool B Bottom Side: India
Says a lot about the state of Hockey in these two countries.
For your reference India beat the Netherlands 3-2 and finished 3rd and not last and will face Belgium in the quarter finals and not England. Germany finished last in India's division.
After the introduction of Astroturf, action replays, slow motion and more nations playing hockey the future of Pakistan and India in bleak. The results speak for themselves and they are only going to get worse. Like boxing, football, basketball and all other sports where physical power and mental alertness are the key we fail every time. The results in Olympics are true indication of our inabilities to even secure a couple of medals out of thousands! We are greatest in agitation, debates, creating problems and lawlessness but miserably fail where physical, mental dedication, hard work and discipline is required. We are a society still asleep and move in slow motion. Hockey is now too fast for our people no matter who the selectors or players are.
Three losses after three games and still in the quarter final.
India will face Belgium not England and they r not bottom placed side in their group !
didn't expect anything else and its not even the fault of players which is the irony