The 19th Azlan Shah Hockey Cup has come of age after defending champions India thwarted the hapless Pakistanis 4-2 in what was being termed as the clash of the titans in Ipoh, Malaysia. The clash was there, but one of the titans were nowhere to be found as Pakistan chose to defend rather than attack, failed to attack when they should have and stayed inside their half as if expecting an alien attack on the other side!
The first 25 minutes of the Pakistan - India clash was uneventful to say the least. India opened the scoring in the 26th minute through Sardar Singh who successfully concerted a Penalty Corner to give his side a one-goal lead before half time. Pakistan came up with an equalizer two minutes into the second half, after a deliberate obstruction by the Indian defenders gave Muhammad Imran a penalty stroke. He obliged by defeating the goalkeeper and netting the ball to take the score line to 1-all. Nevertheless, his goal seemed to wake up the sleeping giant, who wrecked havoc in the remaining part of the match.
Although one goal by the Indians was disallowed, they ‘frankly didn’t give a d**n!’ The defending champions were on the attack in the second half, scoring thrice after that to take a 4-1 lead with goals from Mandeep Antil in the 47th minute, Gurbaj Singh in the 53rd and Tushar Khandekar three minutes later. By the time the match moved into the final 10 minutes, India was three goals ahead of Pakistan, who pulled back one through Kashif Ali’s drag-flick in the 66th minute to make the score 4-2. However, his strike was too little, too late and Pakistan continued to extend their miserable run this year.
The victory over Pakistan was India’s second consecutive, and the first one in this year’s World Cup where they outclassed Pakistan 4-1. They did well throughout the 70-minute clash, considering they had struck the equalizer in the dying moments to escape with a 1-1 draw against China a day earlier.
The Indian forwards did what Pakistan was once famous for, especially in the 1990s. They moved in tandem, displayed rapid inter-positional play, and used the substitution rule to their advantage - things their opponents lacked despite a complete overhaul of team management, selection committee, and captain. The Indian brilliance kept Pakistan's defense on its toe, which had no answer for India's attack especially in the second half of the game.
The defending champions are now in the race for the semi finals whereas Pakistan will have to think hard before time runs out of their hands. India has secured four points from two outings and will play Asian champions South Korea on Sunday.
In an earlier fixture, world champions Australia comfortably beat Egypt 4-0 after a rain-delayed start. The Aussies could not show off their true skills with the hockey, yet the players managed to expose the Egyptian weaknesses by scoring 4 goals to better their position on the points table.
In the last match of the day, hosts Malaysia drew their second consecutive match of the tournament 1-1, this time against their opponents were the Asian Champions South Korea, who a day earlier embarrassed Egypt 6-0.
Saturday is a rest day. On Sunday, there are some exciting matches to start of round two. The Australians will line up against hosts Malaysia, South Korea will battle against India while Pakistan will face off against China.
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