Pakistan look to tame India in Asian Champions Trophy encounter

KARACHI: There has been a lot of talk about India’s plans to boycott Pakistan on the cricket field in major international events in the wake of border tensions between the two neighbours.

But on Sunday (today), the two nations will be clashing in a major regional hockey event in Malaysia with both teams looking to assert their supremacy.

In what is the showpiece event of the Asian Champions Trophy men’s hockey tournament in Kuantan (Malaysia), defending champions Pakistan will be hoping to counter a rampaging Indian side.

Khawaja Junaid, Pakistan’s coach, promised on Saturday that his team will go all out for victory in what is expected to be a high-voltage encounter.

“An India-Pakistan hockey match is always a game of emotions,” said Junaid, a former Olympian.

He added that these much-anticipated games “showcase skills that attract millions of spectators to the sport.”

“Hockey’s popularity has a lot to do with the India-Pakistan matches. We promise to give a good display against India tomorrow.”

Junaid said his team includes several young players and was relatively inexperienced compared to the Indian rivals. “The inexperience is what we have to tackle. We have just had one international tournament in one year,” he said.

“After the World League Semifinals in Antwerp last year, the Pakistan team’s only outing was the Sutan Azlan Shah Cup, where we played seven matches.”

Pakistan were missing from the Olympic Games line-up after failing to earn qualification through the Hockey World League. A loss in the final of the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon to India meant the automatic Asian qualification went to the Indians, who were the only Asian team featuring in the Olympic men’s event in Rio de Janeiro.

Junaid pointed out that his charges will be pitted against a side that had gained a lot of international experience in recent years. “After the 2012 Olympic Games in London, where India finished last in the12-team event, the Indian team has worked on a five-year play,” he said

“Since then, the Indians have played more than 200 matches and their international experience is a reason for climbing up the world rankings,” he said.

Junaid was pleased at the way his boys had soaked in the pressure to prevail 1-0 over South Korea last night after suffering a shock 2-4 loss to hosts Malaysia a day earlier. “I am quite pleased at the way our boys handled the pressure built on us by South Korea. Whenever we got possession, we make it count. The ball was not easily given away and the team kept maintained the structure even under tremendous pressure,” said Junaid.

“For us, the last-minute goal against South Korea last night was the comeback into the tournament,” he said.

“We were pretty disappointed to have given away a lead and lost the opening match to Malaysia, but now we’re back on track.”

Junaid implored his players to keep their emotions in check and stick to the game-plan. “The players need to keep their emotions in check. It was our exuberance that squandered away the lead against Malaysia. We must also maintain the structure of our game,” he added.

The Indian captain, PR Sreejesh, had on Friday implored his players to play it cool when they take on Pakistan. Seeking to cool the nerves of his players, Sreejesh said the preliminary league fixture against Pakistan was just one of the matches.

India had won the inaugural Asian Champions Trophy in 2011 by defeating Pakistan in the final. Pakistan reversed the result in the title encounter the following year. Pakistan retained the title by defeating Japan in the final in 2013, when India sent their under-21 team and finished fifth.