Hockey brings respite to the nation

Greenshirts upset Australia 4-3 to lift tri-series trophy.

KARACHI: Pakistan achieved their biggest win on the hockey field this year, handing out a shock 4-3 defeat to the hosts and world champions Australia to clinch the tri-series tournament in Perth.

The Greenshirts, who suffered humiliating back-to-back defeats to Australia earlier in the tournament while recording two draws against India before the final, looked a resurgent outfit and interestingly also recorded their first win in the tournament.

Going into the final after a 3-1 and 8-2 loss to Australia, Pakistan played with an aggressive approach to control the top-ranked team that was unbeaten in the tournament until the final.

Pakistan took the lead early in the match with penalty-corner specialist Sohail Abbas scoring the opener. The hosts levelled but Mohammad Imran put Pakistan ahead again by converting another penalty-corner before the interval.

Australia succeeded in finding the equaliser yet again before the trend continued and Mohammad Tauseeq gave the visitors the lead for the third time. Fittingly, Shakeel Abbasi, appointed captain for the Australian tour, made it 4-2 off a penalty stroke following an offence by the hosts on a penalty-corner.

Australia struggled for a comeback but managed to score three minutes before the final whistle to set up an exciting finale but it was Pakistan with the smiles on an otherwise dark day for the sports fans in the country.

‘Huge comeback’

Pakistan manager Khwaja Junaid was delighted and said the victory was a result of self-belief and teamwork.

“We went with the belief that we can beat them,” Junaid told The Express Tribune from Perth. “All the players were focused and avoided individual mistakes. It’s a huge comeback after the way we lost to them in the last match.”

However, the manager warned the victory cannot be set as benchmark.

“We’ve found weaknesses and there’s an instant need of improvement before the Champions Trophy.”

The team will return home tonight while the training camp starts after Eidul Azha.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th,  2011.