Pak juniors thrash South Australia

KARACHI: Pakistan’s junior team easily defeated South Australia 3-0 in their fourth match of the National Junior Hockey Championships in Australia.

Pakistan were leading 1-0 at the half time. Afraz Khan, who had a brace in the last game, continued his rich vein of form and opened the account in the 16th minute via a field attempt.

In the second half, Rizwan Ali scored the second goal on a penalty corner. Shahzaib Khan netted the third, a field goal.

With nine points (three wins and one defeat) in the championship so far, Pakistan stand second in their pool, three points ahead of the third placed Queensland.

Head coach Kamran Ashraf said that the confidence of the players was increasing with each match. “But it is just the beginning. We have to go a long way. It is satisfying that whatever we taught them in Pakistan during their training camps is being seen here. Our only lacking was lack of match practice. The next matches in the championship will be tough. Let’s see how the boys perform,” he said.

He said that against South Australia, the defenders and the goalkeeper also played well and did not give any chance to the rivals.