Junior Hockey: Pakistan finally win in Malaysia

Junior hockey team beats hosts 2-0.

KARACHI: Pakistan registered their first win at the Sultan Johor Cup junior hockey tournament when they outplayed defending champions  Malaysia 2-0 in their fourth match of the event yesterday.

The colts, who had earlier drawn against New Zealand and India and lost to Australia, kept their chances of reaching the final alive following the win over their hosts. On the other hand, Malaysia were forced to relinquish their hopes of retaining the title after the loss.

Pakistan relied on counter attacks and the approach paid dividends. They focused on ball possession and Mohammad Dilber struck the first goal in the 21st minute. Pakistan exploited the attacking strategy of their opponents by scoring on a counter-attack through Mohammad Irfan in the 39th minute to seal the 2-0 win.

The victory propelled Pakistan from bottom to fourth with five points. However, they need to win against Germany in their last pool match to avoid an exit.

Unbeaten India have sealed their final place with a 3-1 win against New Zealand with 10 points while Germany and Australia (six points each) are also contenders. The last round of pool matches will be played tomorrow.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 16^th, 2012.