Uzbekistan win first round of Hockey Series Open

LAHORE: Uzbekistan won the first round of the Haier FIH Hockey Series Open (HSO) when they hammered Kazakhstan 6-2 in the last match at the National Hockey Stadium here on Saturday.

Uzbekistan dominated the first quarter but could not capitalize on the chances they created. In the second quarter, Kazakhstan took lead when Nurbol Kozhym scored in the 18th minute.

However, Uzbekistan quickly equalized through a penalty corner taken by Khakimov. Karimov Ruslan then made it 2-1 for Uzbeks by finishing a brilliant combined move.

In 36th minute, Ruslan scored a superb goal to extend Uzbekistan’s lead. In a remarkable dribbling run, he dodged three rival players before darting the ball in.

Within two minutes, it was 4-1 as on a beautiful Ruslan pass, Khaytboev made no mistake and slotted it in.

Kazakhstan reduced the margin when their captain Daulet Urmanov covered almost half the pitch, dodging past several opponents, and passed the ball to Tilek who netted their second goal.

Ruslan created another goal when after a double 1-2, Nazarov sent the ball past the Kazakh goalkeeper.

In the last quarter, Nazarov converted a penalty to score his second and Uzbekistan’s sixth goal. Earlier, Pakistan President XI won their friendly match against Afghanistan 11-0.