India knock Pakistan out of World Cup

Harmanpreet Singh scores twice as India win Group D clash 5-3

KARACHI: India downed Pakistan 5-3 in a pulsating Group D clash at the Wagener Hockey Stadium in Amstelveen on Wednesday, knocking their arch-rivals out of the FIH Hockey World Cup after the Green-shirts suffered their second defeat of the tournament.

Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored twice from penalty corners while Abhishek added two field goals as India produced a clinical attacking display.

Pakistan struck twice in the second quarter through Hannan Shahid and Sufyan Khan but India maintained control and went into halftime with a 4-2 lead.

Harmanpreet opened the scoring from a penalty corner before Abhishek doubled India's advantage. Pakistan responded through Shahid, who scored twice during the match, and Sufyan Khan, who converted a penalty corner to keep Pakistan within reach.

India extended their advantage in the third quarter before Pakistan reduced the deficit again through Shahid in the final period. India, however, held their nerve and added a fifth goal to secure victory.

Pakistan earned four penalty corners but converted only one, while India scored twice from four penalty corners. India also converted a penalty stroke.

The defeat ended Pakistan's hopes of progressing from Group D. They had already suffered a 4-1 defeat by England, meaning Wednesday's loss was their second of the group stage.

India, who had beaten Wales 3-1 in their opening match, progressed to the next stage.

Pakistan now will play in the classification stage for 9^th to 16^th position. After holding Wales to a draw following a 4-1 defeat at the hands of England Pakistan direly needed to win this game against India.

However it was not expected  keeping Pakistan’s recent record against India as in the FIH Pro League recently India had downed Pakistan in both matches in England.

Pakistan, which have only two players in their side having played in the previous World Cup held eight years ago, had qualified  for the global event after missing the 2023 edition.

Earlier England produced a ruthless attacking display to beat Wales 8-2 at the same venue.

This was the third straight win from England and they have finished Group D at the summit with nine points.

England raced into a 2-0 lead in the opening quarter and continued to punish Wales' defence, adding two more goals before halftime. They led 4-0 at the break and never looked in serious danger of surrendering control.

Will Calnan was the standout scorer for England, netting twice, while Thomas Sorsby, Zachary Wallace and Sam Ward also found the net. Nicholas Bandurak added another goal and England's pressure through penalty corners helped create sustained attacking opportunities.

Henry Croft and Samuel Hooper were also on the score-sheet, with both registering goals from England's penalty-corner opportunities.

Wales, despite being under pressure for much of the contest, managed to respond in the final quarter. Gareth Furlong struck  twice, including a goal from short cornel, but the late revival came far too late to alter the outcome. This was the second loss for Wales as they finished with just one point and will play classification matches from 9^th to 16^th position.