Pakistan qualifies for hockey finals after 20 years
Pakistan has qualified for the finals of Asian Games hockey event after twenty years. After a tough competition, Pakistan defeated former champions South Korea in sudden death penalty shots and confirmed its berth in the final.
Pakistan’s goalkeeper, Salman Akbar blocked the last hit of a penalty shoot-out against the defending champions South Korea to lead his squad into the final of Asiad.
Pakistan and South Korea were locked at 1-1 in regulation time and could not break the deadlock in extra time of 15 minutes at Aoti Hockey Center in Guangzhou, China.
The first goal of the match was scored by Waqas Muhammad of Pakistan in the 22nd minute of the match. South Korea though, had an early chance before that when they received a penalty corner in the first half; however could not mark a goal.
Perhaps the turning point of the match came when Pakistan’s Muhammad Imran was sent off from the field with a yellow-card and Pakistan started the game with ten players. Korea’s strikers duly took the benefit and Kang Moon-Kyu leveled the score four minutes into the second session. The score line at 1-1 set the match for an exciting finish towards the end with both teams pressing for the deciding strike.
Legend Drag flicker, Sohail Abbas could not deliver as well as he would have liked for the team as he missed three successive penalty corners in the second half of the game.
Koreans got a chance to seal the triumph when they obtained a penalty corner in over-time but Muhammad Rashid, by blocking the ball, possibly burst the South Korean bubble.
Since the match was tied at 1-1 even after the alloted extra time, the teams went into penalty strokes and with the first five penalties creating a scoreline of 3-3 the game went into sudden death, making it a nail-biting thriller.
The penalty shots of Sohail Abbas and Jong-Hyun were blocked by goalkeepers but Haseem Khan marked a goal and gave the lead to Pakistan. South Korea had to score if they were to stay in the running for the final but Salman Akbar saved the hit of Jang Jong-Ho and carried Pakistan into the final of 16th Asian Games.
Pakistan, having acquired seven gold medals in Asiad, has not won a major tournament since World Cup 1994.
The hopes of the South Koreans to complete a hat-rick by clinching the gold medal this time around as well came to an end and they will now look to play the match for the third place on Thursday against either Malaysia or India. The second semi-final between India and Malaysia will be played later today.
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