Pakistan hammer hosts Bangladesh in Asia Cup opener

KARACHI: Pakistan hockey team trounced hosts Bangladesh 7-0 in a one-sided contest in their first match of Asia Cup in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Both the teams started with attacking hockey, but the first quarter ended without a goal being scored. In the second quarter, Pakistan got a breakthrough when Abu Bakr Mehmood netted the ball in the 18th minute.

In the 33rd minute Arsalan Qadir, along with Ammad Butt, hit back-to-back goals to give Pakistan 3-0 lead. Pakistan started playing defensive hockey when the third quarter began they were leading the game but Abu Bakr was not in a mood of defensive hockey as he sounded the board in the 41st minute.

Ammad hit the fifth goal for Pakistan in the 47th minute. The third quarter ended with Pakistan leading by 6-0 as Abu Bakr hammered another goal in the last moments.

Arsalan netted his second and Pakistan’s seventh goal in the fourth quarter. Head coach Farhat khan said while talking to reporters that the players had learnt a lot from their mistakes in the past. “We are here, having done a lot of groundwork.

“I am satisfied with the performance of the players here but it should continue,” he said. He said that all the matches were important in order to clinch the title and attain a better ranking.Talking about the match against India, he said that it was always a thrilling contest. “But the boys don’t have any pressure. We are fully prepared to face India on Sunday,” the head coach said.

“There are lots of opponents in this tournament who can give us tough time as they have to win this tournament to qualify for the World Cup. “We are looking forward to win all our next matches,” Farhat said.

“Players would get a boost for the next matches after defeating the hosts. We will not take any team lightly and players will put up their best efforts in coming matches,” he said. Pakistan will face Japan in their second match on Friday (tomorrow).