Champions Trophy: Pakistan lose to Australia

MELBOURNE: Pakistan lost to Australia 1-0 in its Pool B match at the Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy tournament in Melbourne on Tuesday.

Australia, chasing a fifth straight Champions Trophy, needed to win by two goals or more against Pakistan to take top spot in Pool B away from the Dutch, however they could only manage a 1-0 win.

Pakistan played well throughout the matched and looked capable of pulling off an upset, however a second-half penalty corner to Kieran Govers gave the home team the win.

Pakistan challenged the only goal scored by Australia claiming that the referee had given a yellow card and a penalty corner over a foul, reported Express News.

Pakistan’s Hockey Team Head Coach Akhtar Rasool said that it was against the law to give two decisions over one foul and challenged the goal by Australia which was made using the penalty corner.

Australian defender Mark Knowles said there was still room for improvement.

"We haven't played that well yet and know we can get better. We need to improve, we now play England, they are young and it's a quarter-final at a Champions Trophy so it will be big for everyone," he said.

Pakistan will now face Germany in the quarter-final on Thursday, while Australia will face England.

Earlier during the day, India finished top of Pool A despite going down 3-2 in their pool game to Olympic champions Germany. India will now face win-less Belgium, who finished fourth in Pool B, in a quarter-final on Thursday.

Elsewhere, England blew their chance to finish on top of Pool A after being held to a 1-1 draw against New Zealand, while the Netherlands had a scare against Belgium, but hung on to win 5-4.