Pakistan in Australian national junior final

KARACHI: Pakistan defeated Western Australia 2-0 in the last playoff match to enter the final of Australia’s National Junior Hockey Championships.

It was a well contested game but Pakistan held the upper hand most of the time.

Handsome boy Ali Aziz opened the scoring in the 20th minute.

The score was 1-0 when the teams changed the sides.

The second goal came in the 43rd minute through Shahzaib Khan.

Pakistan face New South Wales in the final of this 10-team competition on Saturday (tomorrow).

PHF president Brig (retd) Khalid Khokhar applauded the performance of Pakistan juniors and declared it “a great achievement.

“It proves that when you take decisions with good intentions and work hard with sincerity and dedication success comes at last,” he said.

He said that the good performance of the players in Australian domestic hockey, which is considered one of the best and toughest in the world, proved that Pakistani players are talented. “Our hockey is strong. With only a year and a half of hard work, our junior players have reached the final of Australian national junior championship.

“It is the first time that a team from our region participated in the Australian domestic hockey and reached the final of the championship. This is indeed a great success.

“The performance of the players in Australia proves that Kamran Ashraf-led team management and players really worked hard during the camp,” he added.

PHF secretary Shahbaz Ahmed said that the junior team’s performance showed what future Pakistan hockey had.

“Sending the junior team to Australia was the best option for us because we were in isolation. Foreign teams were not ready to visit out country and we were out of the World Cup and Olympics. Thus, we decided to send our junior boys to play in Australia, which is one of the best modern hockey centres.

“This Australian journey has been very beneficial. Our players were always under pressure against European teams and Australia in big international events but now that they have defeated various leading domestic teams, their confidence has increased. It will help them in near future.

“The good thing is that all players played well in Australia.  Sometimes forwards won the matches and sometimes the penalty corner strikers. Besides, the goalkeeper and defenders also did not allow many goals,” the secretary said.

Coach Kamran Ashraf said that he had not made any tall claims. “I only believe in playing the best hockey and not giving up easily. The good thing is that our players who did not have any international experience did not come under pressure against any team and played their natural game and gradually improved,” he added.

He said that he was satisfied with the performance of the players. “I want them to take the final easy and play their original game with a big heart and play according to their ability.

“I will not make any prediction about the final but our players will play with full force and dedication,” said Kamran.