Pakistan edge past India, enter last-4

Kuantan (Malaysia), May 10: Sohail Abbas found his scoring touch just in time to lead Pakistan into the Asia Cup hockey semifinal with a 3-2 win over India in a Group B match in Malaysia on Sunday.

The Pakistanis had five penalty corners but Sohail was on target with only one attempt and that turned out to be the winner.

Pakistan had earlier on Saturday drawn 1-1 with China and needed a win to book their place in the semifinals.

Pakistan coach Shahid Ali Khan said that the recall of the four players from Europe made the difference in the match.

“Sohail, Salman Akbar, Waseem Ahmed and Rehan Butt gave us experience and were influential in the win.

“We needed full points and credit to the players for achieving it,” he said.

The match was an absorbing encounter with a lot of goal-scoring chances at both ends.

Pakistan took the initiative from the start. They had the ball in the back of the net in the fourth minute but Tariq Aziz’s effort was ruled out by South African umpire Jon Wright.

Left winger Prabhjot Singh gave India the lead in the 16th minute after a botched penalty corner attempt.

The Pakistanis drew level in the 33rd minute when skipper Sandeep Singh fumbled with his clearance and allowed the 20-year-old Haseem Khan to score.

In the second half, Pakistan went on the offensive early and took the lead just one minute into the game.

Haseem Khan was the scorer when he deflected a long ball into the D.

Rain started to fall in the 43rd minute and India managed to score their equaliser in the 46th minute through Rajpal Singh before play was stopped.

Play resumed after 45 minutes. Pakistan attacked and in the 54th minute won a penalty corner.

Sohail finally got it correct with a low flick to put his team in the semis.

India coach Harendra Singh was disappointed with the result but remained confident that his team will make the semifinals.

“It was a good match and could have gone either way. Now we are under pressure and will have to win against China on Tuesday,” he said.

“My players did well and I have no complaints about their performance,” he added. — AFP