Greenshirts gain confidence with 2-0 win

Pakistan down Korean club in practice match ahead of Asiad.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s hockey team warmed up for the Asian Games with a 2-0 win in a practice match against a Korean club on Wednesday, while another similar encounter with Bangladesh on Thursday was cancelled due to the opponents’ late arrival at Incheon.

“We were relying on the practice match against Bangladesh which was to be played today [Thursday], but it has been cancelled,” head coach Shahnaz Sheikh told The Express Tribune from Korea. “Now we only have our training and practice to count on.



“It’s unfortunate that despite our repeated requests to the national teams of Korea, Malaysia, Japan and others, we were unable to play any warm-up matches with them due to their prior commitments. As a result, we are well short of competitive match-practice.”

Talking about the game against the local Korean club, the coach said, “We started the game on a positive note, but our players suffered from the rough and dangerous play of the opponents. So we mutually decided to reduce the match to only two quarters in order to avoid any injuries at this stage.”

The Greenshirts grabbed the lead in the 13th minute through a penalty corner by Muhammad Imran, ending the first quarter on 1-0. In the second session, Muhammad Waqas scored the second goal in the last minutes of the match.

“The last goal was superbly taken, it was an enjoyable spectacle,” said Shaikh. 

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