Five-a-side hockey: Pakistan through to U16 Asia Cup final

Pakistan will now face Bangladesh for the title on Sunday.

KARACHI: Pakistan continued their superb run in the new five-a-side U16 Asia Cup as they marched into the final where they will face Bangladesh for the title in Singapore on Sunday.

The tournament favourites defeated Malaysia 6-0 in their semi-final yesterday as Mohammad Atiq, who has enjoyed a goal spree, netted a brace in the rout. Sikandar Mustufa, Nohaiz Zahid Malik, Shan Irshad and Junaid Manzoor scored one goal apiece.

Before their last-four tie, Sri Lanka had received a mauling at the hands of Pakistan, who went rampant in a 12-3 victory in their last group game.

Earlier, coach Tahir Zaman had been uncertain about the team’s performance in the event even though he stressed that they had trained hard. However, all nerves were settled down when Pakistan got off to a flying start, smashing 16 goals against a hapless Chinese Taipei outfit in their tournament opener to register a 16-1 win.

In another match, Pakistan saw off the challenge from Japan to register a 7-4 win.

As many as 10 teams featured in the competition, with Pakistan being placed with Japan, China, Sri Lanka and Chinese Taipei in Pool A, while the other group featured Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh and Kazakhstan.