Pakistan juniors outclass NSW to clinch title

Australian National Junior Hockey Championship

KARACHI: Pakistan Junior hockey team defeated New South Wales 3-2 in the final to clinch the Australian National Junior Hockey Championship in Hobart, Australia on Saturday.

It is first time that any Pakistani team has won the championship. New South Wales were the only undefeated side in the 10-team competition and were also the side which had inflicted Pakistan their only loss of the tour.

Pakistan went ahead in the 13th minute through a field goal by Naveed Alam, who finished the tournament as Pakistan’s top scorer with five goals.

It didn’t take long for the Pakistani colts to extend the lead. In the 24th minute, Ahmed Nadeem gave the final touch to a penalty corner. At half-time, the score was 2-0.

Pakistan continued searching for the target and were rewarded in the 44th minute when Nadeem had his second of the evening — this time via open play.

But New South Wales didn’t give up. Within four minutes, they were awarded a penalty stroke and their most prolific scorer Ehren Hazell cashed in on it.

It stayed 3-1 with just five minutes to go. In the 65th minute, Daine Richards caused a stir when he converted a penalty corner to reduce Pakistan’s lead to a bare minimum.

However, New South Wales failed to get the equaliser and Pakistan sealed a well-deserved win.

The jubilant Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) President Brig (retd.) Khalid Khokhar praised the junior side and termed the victory as a great achievement.

“This success will give a lot of confidence to our players,” said Khokhar.

“The boys have sent a clear message that we still have a lot of talent,” he said.   

The PHF boss added that the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) and International Hockey Federation (FIH) should now realize how they had mistreated our hockey by remaining silent when Pakistan Junior hockey team were denied visas for the last Junior Hockey World Cup held in India.

Meanwhile, the PHF secretary Shahbaz Ahmed declared the junior team’s performance a huge achievement.

“This win has come at a time when we really needed it. It will not only boost the confidence of our players but also show the world that our players have potential,” he said.

Shahbaz said that the junior hockey team would stay in Australia to participate in various league hockey competitions.

Pakistan Junior team’s head-coach Kamran Ashraf said that he is delighted and “satisfied” by the performance of green-shirts.

“All the players performed well and worked as a team throughout the competition. They produced when it was needed,” he said.