Pakistan held by hosts in Azlan Shah

KARACHI: Pakistan started off the 19th Azlan Shah Cup with a 3-3 draw with hosts Malaysia. Rasool Shafqat scored the first goal of the match in the fourth minute but Malaysia’s Hanafi Haffihafiz equalised for the hosts in the 19th minute as the teams went level at half-time.

Mohammad Amin Rahim gave the hosts the lead through a penalty corner in the 47th minute and Hafifihafiz Hanafi doubled the lead in the 51st minute. Mohammad Irfan and Muhammad Zubair earned Pakistan a point with the equaliser 20 seconds before the end. “It’s a good start,” Pakistan coach Khwaja Junaid told The Express Tribune. “We had 11 debutants today and they played a very controlled game.”

India draw against

China India were held to a 1-1 draw against China with the defending champions salvaging a point just 17 seconds from fulltime. Both teams started defensively but China took the lead in the 13th minute through Sun Tianjun. China’s effective counter attacks often caught the Indian defence off guard but Ravi Pal scored for India in the dying seconds. In the final match of the day in Ipoh, South Korea thrashed Egypt 6-0.