Defending champions Pakistan will have to settle for silver after losing 4-2 to India on penalties in the final of the 2014 Asian Games at the Seonhak Hockey Stadium, Incheon. The match had ended 1-1 in normal time.
Going into the final, Pakistan were the tournament’s only unbeaten team and were high on confidence after having defeated India 2-1 in the group stages.
True to form, the Greenshirts were off to a flyer after Muhammad Rizwan Senior put Pakistan ahead in the third minute. However, India levelled the scoring in the second quarter through a 27th-minute goal by Kothajit Singh Khadangbam.
Neither side was able to break the deadlock again in the final two quarters, and penalties were required to decide the tournament’s winner. Despite having won the semi-finals 6-5 on penalties, Pakistan penalty-takers seemed lacking in composure as Indian goalkeeper Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran saved Abdul Hassem Khan’s and Muhammad Umar Bhutta’s efforts. India converted four of their five penalties to win 4-2 and claim the gold.
The Greenshirts were participating at the Games on the back of a disappointing eleven-month period in which they missed out on the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games.
“It hurt badly when we could not qualify for the World Cup, and now even more as we missed out on a chance to qualify directly for the Olympics,” said coach Shehnaz Sheikh. “Now we will have to negotiate a tough qualification route to the Olympics.”
However, Sheikh was happy with the performance of his players. “The boys paid back my six-month training, even to reach this level, as they had not played in an international fixture for the last 11 months. We were perhaps a little unlucky.”
Captain Muhammad Imran echoed his coach’s thoughts. “It is disappointing to lose,” the striker told The Express Tribune. “But look at it this way; we [the hockey team] had won eight gold medals before and now we take home our third silver.”
However, Imran was disappointed that they were unable to capitalise on their early goal. “We should have won the gold as we had a good start, but our strikers did not perform” added Imran. “The gold would have been vital for the revival of hockey in Pakistan, but the thing which hurts more is that we missed out on the chance to book a place in the Olympics.”
Meanwhile, South Korea defeated Malaysia 3-2 in the match for bronze, while China secured fifth place by defeating Japan in the 5-6 classification match 4-3 on penalties after the game had finished 1-1.
Boxing
Pakistan’s Muhammad Waseem lost 3-0 in the semi-finals to Uzbekistan’s Shakhobidin Zoirov at the Seonhak Gymnasium.
The Commonwealth Games silver-medallist was upbeat about his chances of making it to the final and winning a gold but Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) director Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera was still happy with Waseem’s performance.
“Waseem still got us a bronze medal and a medal at the Asian Games is more valuable than any other regional event,” Ganjera told The Express Tribune. “Waseem lost but he is a brave boxer. He gives his all to a fight, which is commendable.”
Kabaddi
Pakistan lost to Iran 25-14 in the semi-finals; yet another disappointing result as the PSB expected the team to at least make it to the finals.
“Kabaddi was a little disappointing, but again, the athletes tried their best and delivered a bronze medal,” said Ganjera.
Table tennis
Forty-seven-year-old Rahila Kashif lost to 27-year-old Korean Hyowon Suh in the women’s singles round of 32 elimination match.
Karate
Asian champion and US Open title holder Saadi Abbas failed to progress into the semi-finals of the -67kg men’s event, losing his quarter-final match to Macau’s Lat Long Pang 5-1 at the Gyeyang Gymnasium.
Meanwhile, Kulsoom Haza also lost her first round match to Nepal’s Bimala Tamang 4-1 in the women’s kata event. Baz Muhammad was outplayed by Qatar’s Hosam Momdouh S Ahmed 4-2 in the -75kg event.
Rugby
The rugby team, making their debut in the competition, finished 11th as they defeated Saudi Arabia 12-7 at the Namdong Asiad Rugby Field.
Taekwondo
Arsalan Asad Khan lost 13-15 to Chinese Taipei’s Yen Ming Hen in the first round of the -63kg.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 3rd, 2014.
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