Agony as Pakistan fail to make cut for Rio Olympics

KARACHI: Pakistan’s summer of sporting discontent continued on Friday when their hockey team miserably failed in its quest to secure a berth for next year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
In a must-win game of the first phase of fifth to eight play-offs at the World League semi-final in Antwerp (Belgium), the Pakistanis crumbled under pressure to lose against minnows Ireland for the first time in history.
The dismal result means that for the first time in their hockey history, three-time champions Pakistan have failed to make the cut for the Olympiad.
The setback comes after a similarly devastating blow last year when Pakistan could not feature in the Hockey World Cup for the first time in history after failing to qualify for the prestigious quadrennial tournament.
After failing to the reach the semi-finals of the Antwerp event following a defeat against Great Britain in the quarters, the Pakistanis needed to beat Ireland in the play-off to keep their Olympic qualification hopes alive.
But the Pakistanis, despite being the more aggressive and higher-ranked team, weren’t just up to the mark.
It wasn’t that the Green-shirts didn’t get their chances. They enjoyed the majority of possession during the fast-paced match but it were the Irish who recorded a famous win – their first ever against Pakistan – to move closer to qualify for the Olympics.
For Ireland, Alan Sothern was the hero as he converted a short corner with a blistering shot to seal the fate of the match in his team’s favour. The decisive goal came in the 46th minute thanks to Stephen Dowds’ clever usage of the video referral.
Agencies add: Ireland’s men picked the best possible occasion to claim their first victory over Pakistan as Alan Sothern’s bullet-like finish from a penalty corner kept alive hope of Olympic qualification.
Ireland had never beaten Pakistan in their previous 10 meetings and had to soak up a huge amount of pressure against their higher-ranking opponents.
They did so with aplomb, led by their outstanding goalkeeper David Harte, who praised the team’s efforts at the final whistle.
“We knew that it would be that way. Pakistan is a seriously good team, with a higher ranking (10th) to Ireland (14th). We knew they would come at us, so we were prepared to defend for long periods.”
Pakistan had never previously failed to qualify for the Olympics and they had chances with Muhammad Dilber forcing a fine save out of Harte in the opening quarter, the netminder reacting swiftly to steer a deflection past the post.
The second quarter saw Pakistan upping the pressure, but a tame effort from Muhammad Umar Bhutta was padded away almost by Harte.
Irish hearts were in their mouths when Pakistan called for a video referral in the last five minutes, but the penalty corner request was turned down and Ireland took the game to the other end of the pitch.
Pakistan removed their goalkeeper Butt in a last-ditch effort to find an equaliser, but time was against them, as Eugene Magee kept a cool head and held possession as the clock ticked down.