2017 Asia Cup: Pakistan finish third as Amjad scores hat-trick

Greenshirts beat South Korea 6-3 to end campaign on high

KARACHI:  

Ajaz Amjad scored three goals to help Pakistan win bronze medal in the 2017 Asia Cup after they dominated South Korea with a 6-3 win at Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium in Dhaka on Sunday.

The greenshirts opened the scoring with a goal courtesy Amjad in the 10 minute of the first quarter. The second quarter then saw three goals as Pakistan scored two and South Korea lessened the deficit to two goals.

South Korea’s Suk Hoon Cho scored a field goal in the 20th minute, while Pakistan veteran Rashid Mehmood scored in the 26th minute. Amjad added one more to his and the team’s tally in the 30th minute to end the second quarter on a high.

Pakistan opened the third quarter with a goal from a penalty corner as Abu Mehmood pushed one in. Amjad then completed his hat-trick in the 36^th minute to help Pakistan go 5-1 up.

South Korea then scored their second goal before the end of the third quarter thanks to Namyong Lee in the 43rd minute.

As the last quarter started, Pakistan’s defence was once again breached Inwoo Seo through a penalty corner in the 55th minute. However, Muhammad Yaqoob scored Pakistan’s last and sixth goal in the 56th minute to end the match 6-3.

The captain of the team Muhammad Irfan told The Express Tribune: “We wanted to finish at least on the third place when we came to play the tournament and beating South Korea in the third-place match with this margin is an achievement for the team. The boys did overcome their mistakes and helped the team finish third.”

Irfan added that they’ve got a lot of positives out of the event and if they continue like this, they’ll soon be able to vie for the top spot in Asia.

“India and Malaysia are two of the top teams in Asia, but if we keep on putting in the hard yards then soon we will be the top team in Asia,” he said.