Junior Hockey World Cup: Pakistan survive Egypt scare

Tauseeq’s last-minute goal gives greenshirts slim 3-2 victory in opener.

KARACHI: Pakistan surpassed Egypt 3-2 for a winning start at the Junior Hockey World Cup which commenced in New Delhi on Friday.

Although they walked away with maximum points, Pakistan were made to run for their money due to a late resurgence from their lower-ranked opponents.

Having defeated South Africa and Malaysia in the practice games, the Umar Bhutta-led team started off aggressively with immediate attacks on the opposition.

The side got the reward soon as Mohammad Irfan, who was left unmarked, took full advantage to give Pakistan a lead in the fourth minute.

They continued the aggression with repeated attacks and their efforts yield results with a second goal in the 30th minute through Ammad Shakeel Butt.

Despite coming in the second-half with a 2-0 deficit, Egypt bounced back with vengeance to turn the tide over Pakistan.

Ahmed Mohsen and Mostafa Mansour were accurate on the penalty-corners, helping Egypt to make it 2-2 and setting up a thrilling last few minutes.

Mohammad Tauseeq, who represented Pakistan at the London Olympics, scored the all-important goal in the final minute to seal an exciting 3-2 victory.

Pakistan will now take on Germany on December 7 and play the final match of Group A against Belgium on December 10.

Setbacks for Germany, India 

Meanwhile, hosts India suffered a 2-3 defeat in their inaugural Pool C match against the Netherlands while defending champions Germany were stunned 1-3 by Belgium in the Pool A match.

Korea outclassed Canada 7-4 (Pool C), Australia defeated Argentina 5-2 (Pool B), Malaysia overcame New Zealand 3-2 (Pool D), France edged past Spain 4-3 (Pool B) while South Africa shocked England 2-1 (Pool D) in other matches of the day.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th, 2013.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.