Pakistan loses to Australia in the Owen G Glenn FIH Champions Trophy
Pakistan failed to break its unsuccessful streak, losing for the third time in a row, against the world champions, Australia, in the Owen G Glenn FIH Champions Trophy, played at the North Harbour Hockey Stadium, in Auckland, New Zealand, on December 06.
Jamie Dwyer, the four-time FIH Player of the Year award holder, was the real architect of the biggest Australian victory.
He lit the lamp three times during the two halves, taking his personal tally up to six in the tournament.
Pakistan, after losing the third consecutive game, missed the chance to move to the next round of the prestigious event.
Pakistan lost to Great Britain and Spain in the previous two games of the tournament, by 2-1 and 4-2, respectively.
On the other side, Australia completed its hat-trick of victories by winning the third game in a row. The Kookaburras edged past Spain by 3-2, while clobbering Great Britain by 4-1 in the earlier matches of the event.
Pakistan Hockey Team Manager, Khawaja Mohammad Junaid, stated that the Green-shirts were taking part in the tournament after a six-year period.
The team did not have much experience against the world’s best squads, that is why it failed to show better performances, he added.
He added, “Unless we keep playing with top hockey nations on regular basis our hockey standards cannot improve and we stay at the same level where we are at the moment, there is dire need to have frequent hockey ties with those countries who are ruling the
hockey world”.
The two teams started the game at a frantic pace, exchanging attacks in the very early part of the game. However, the Kookaburras took 22 minutes to open the score-account.
Dwyer recorded the first notch in the 22nd minute while his teammate, Eddie Ockenden, doubled the tally soon after nine minutes. The Aussies were leading the score by 2-0, at halftime.
In the second frame, the Aussies took the game completely in their favour, with four more goals.
Luke Doerner marked his first goal of the day in the 40th minute, while Dwyer dispatched two more in the 45th and 48th minutes, respectively, for Australia.
The Australian lead further expanded to six goals by a single notch from Mark Paterson in the 53rd minute.
Muhammad Tousiq managed a goal for Pakistan but it failed to save them from a humiliating defeat. Pakistan lost to Australia by 6-1, in the third consecutive match of the Champions Trophy.
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