International Super Hockey Series: Pakistan down India to finish third

Greenshirts put on improved show, Australia beat New Zealand in final.

KARACHI: Pakistan outclassed India 4-1 to claim third place at the International Super Hockey Series while Australia were crowned champions after clinching a hard-fought 5-3 win over New Zealand in the final played in Perth.

For the Greenshirts it was some consolation after they missed out on a place in the final of the newly-introduced nine-a-side tournament.

Upcoming striker Mohammad Waqas scored a brace as Pakistan dominated their arch-rivals, availing all the chances that came their way and displaying a much more improved show than the rest of their matches in the tournament.

Waqas scored the opener before captain Shakeel Abbasi doubled their lead to put Pakistan in a strong position. However, India made it 2-1 with Rajpal Singh scoring just before half-time.

Pakistan continued their fine form in the second-half as Fareed Ahmed scored in the 17th minute before Waqas completed his brace in the 20th minute.

Pakistan thwarted India’s attempt to stage a comeback, courtesy goal-keeper Imran Shah who was later declared the tournament’s best goal-keeper.

Management pleased with performance

While the side failed to make it to the final, Pakistan team management was pleased with the overall performance of the Greenshirts who were playing the nine-a-side format for the first time.

Pakistan lost a close match against Australia 3-2 before drawing against India and New Zealand. A 4-1 win then earned Pakistan third place in the four-team tournament.

“It was a productive assignment,” team manager Khwaja Junaid told The Express Tribune from Perth. “We can count many positives from the tournament, which will help us in future assignments. The team played a few pressure games including the one against Australia and that will help the young players.”

The Olympian also praised his team’s defence and said that Pakistan had shown a lot of improvement in that department.

“The team has showed huge improvement in defence. It was one of our gray areas but in this tournament, our defence was the best.”

Pakistan conceded just six goals in four matches, a low number considering the fast pace of the nine-a-side format and in comparison to the other teams.

“Our goal-keeper did very well under the circumstances and that’s a good sign. We are finishing very well and our game has improved since our first match against Australia.”

Pakistan are now scheduled to play Test matches against Australia and India from October 27.

Australia claim title

In the final, favourites Australia downed New Zealand 5-3. The hosts secured a 3-1 lead in the first half but faced stiff resistance after the break. New Zealand scored twice to level the score before Australia hit two goals in the final minutes to seal the win.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24^th, 2011.