India go down to Pak, settle for silver in SA Games
Senior duo of Dharamvir Singh and Varinderjeet Singh misfired in tie-breaker as India had to be content with a silver after going down to arch-rivals Pakistan 4-5 in a keenly contested hockey summit clash in 11th South Asian Games in Dhaka on Sunday.
The final match, which saw a pacy start at the Moulana Bhashani Stadium, had to be stretched into the tie-breaker after the stipulated time did not produce any result, with the score levelled at 1-1.
During the tie-breaker, India struck thrice through V Raghunath, Innoncent Kullu and Vikas Pillai, but two seniors Dharamvir and Varinderjeet missed their chances as India’s hope for another gold dashed. Pakistan struck through Wasif Siddique, Kashif Javid and Tasawar Abbas, while in the fourth shot Zeeshan Ali missed.
In the crucial fifth shot, skipper Sabtain Raja held his nerve and found the target to settle the issue.
Earlier, India took the first lead after seniormost pro Raghunath converted a penalty corner in the sixth minute of the match.
India dominated the first 35 minutes and went into the break with the sole lead.
But after the changeover Pakistan equalised in the 45th minute when Siddique scooped the ball nicely which found back of the net.