Akhtar Rasool: “We frittered away 10 chances”

Ipoh, 12 March 2013: Asian giants and traditional rivals dished out attacking brand of Asian hockey that provided seat-edged excitement to the sizeable crowd but despite dominating and have better chances, Pakistan failed to tame the spirited Indian youngsters as they went down 1-3 in the 22nd edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament on the blue turf at Azlan Shah stadium here today.

The Indian team, with 10 players under-21 players, came up with stunning hockey but the hero of the day was goalkeeper Sreejesh, who stood like a solid rock in the Indian cage thwarting everything that came his way. “India had five clear chances and scored thrice while Pakistan frittered away more than 10 chances and missed some sitters,’’ said Pakistan Manager Akthar Rasool, which summed up the play.

The Indian defence was well-manned by Rupinder Pal Singh and Harbir Singh Sandhu and whenever Pakistan managed to beat them they found a Himalayan barrier in Sreejesh, a veteran of Sultan Azlan Shah Tournaments.

On the other side, India exploited the weak left flank where Pakistan failed to tighten its grip both in the midfield and the attack. The numerous crosses from Wagas went abegging and it was India’s show today.

The match began on a aggressive note with Pakistan mounting attacks right from the start and in the very fourth minute they forced a short corner. In an indirect variation, Pakistan skipper Muhammad Imran took a direct hit but sent the sizzling shot a bit wide of the right post where a waiting Wa qas deflected into the boards without much fuss. (1-0)

However, India wasted no time and came back with a bang scoring the equaliser in the very next minute. After Dharamvir Singh’s injection, skipper Danish Mujtaba set it up perfectly and Rupinder Pal Singh made no mistake with a low but powerful flick to the boards. (1-1)

Buoyed by the goal, India raised the tempo of their game and weaved patterns upfront with Kangujam Chinglensana Singh in the thick of action. In the 10th minute, India took the lead when Nithin Thimmaiah received a diagonal pass from the left and took a shot at the goal which was blocked by Pak goalie Imran Shah but the rebound was slammed in by Akashdeep without any fuss. (2-1)

Thereafter, Indian played a tactical game tightening the defence and slowed down the game while Pakistan increased the tempo and started attacking repeatedly. But India exploited their weak midfield and managed to hang on to their slender lead.

Against the run of play, India mounted a superb counter attack in the 56th minute to seal the fate of the match with another goal. A long cross into the circle by Dharamvir Singh turned the tide and an alert Mandeep was caught on the wrong foot facing away from the ball, but the lanky youngster made amends and turned his body to tap in from waist-level. Goalkeeper Shah palmed it out but the ball came back to Mandeep, who whacked it this time hard into the nets.

Despite another reverse, Pakistan fought with renewed vigour but all that they could show for their play were more penalty corners which they failed to convert today. In all they earned nine short corners and could convert only one while India was successful with their only corner to gain 100 per cent success.