Hockey: No respite for Pakistan against Korea
Greenshirts thrashed 4-0 in Azlan Shah Cup.
KARACHI:
Pakistan’s chances of reaching the Azlan Shah Cup final were hit hard when the Greenshirts crashed to an embarrassing 4-0 defeat against the lowly Koreans in Ipoh, Malaysia yesterday.
A day after going down 3-1 to an in-form New Zealand, Pakistan faced another thrashing, handing Korea their first win in the tournament.
The Greenshirts missed several chances once again with captain and penalty-corner specialist Sohail Abbas being the culprit on four occasions.
In contrast, Korea’s Nam Hyun-Woo converted two penalty-corners, the first when he scored his side’s opener in the 18th minute.
Pakistan’s vice-captain Mohammad Waqas wasted a golden opportunity after failing to divert a cross in front of an open goal before Abbas’ shot came back off the post.
Woo added a second in the 44th minute before You Hyo-Sik found the target 11 minutes later to make it 3-0. Hyun Hye-Sung then took the game beyond Pakistan’s reach with another field goal.
“We’re missing too many chances and it remains our problem,” said Pakistan coach Khwaja Junaid.
“We’re showing good energy on the field and creating opportunities but we lack execution. We need to fix the problem quickly in order to avoid more disappointment. There were some individual mistakes too because of which we conceded.”
In other matches, Argentina beat Great Britain 3-2, while five-time champions India prevailed over Malaysia 3-2. Pakistan meet Malaysia tomorrow in their fourth match of the tournament.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 29th, 2012.
Pakistan’s chances of reaching the Azlan Shah Cup final were hit hard when the Greenshirts crashed to an embarrassing 4-0 defeat against the lowly Koreans in Ipoh, Malaysia yesterday.
A day after going down 3-1 to an in-form New Zealand, Pakistan faced another thrashing, handing Korea their first win in the tournament.
The Greenshirts missed several chances once again with captain and penalty-corner specialist Sohail Abbas being the culprit on four occasions.
In contrast, Korea’s Nam Hyun-Woo converted two penalty-corners, the first when he scored his side’s opener in the 18th minute.
Pakistan’s vice-captain Mohammad Waqas wasted a golden opportunity after failing to divert a cross in front of an open goal before Abbas’ shot came back off the post.
Woo added a second in the 44th minute before You Hyo-Sik found the target 11 minutes later to make it 3-0. Hyun Hye-Sung then took the game beyond Pakistan’s reach with another field goal.
“We’re missing too many chances and it remains our problem,” said Pakistan coach Khwaja Junaid.
“We’re showing good energy on the field and creating opportunities but we lack execution. We need to fix the problem quickly in order to avoid more disappointment. There were some individual mistakes too because of which we conceded.”
In other matches, Argentina beat Great Britain 3-2, while five-time champions India prevailed over Malaysia 3-2. Pakistan meet Malaysia tomorrow in their fourth match of the tournament.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 29th, 2012.