India thrash Pakistan in junior hockey

KARACHI: India bundled out Pakistan 5-1 in their opening match of the Sultan Johar Junior hockey tournament in Johor Bahru on Sunday.
The Indian juniors outclassed Pakistan colts, scoring as many as four goals in the first half.
The Green-shirts fared relatively well in the second half and scored a goal and only allowed one more goal.
Pakistan junior team was playing its first international match after a gap of one year.
Pakistan defense line failed to contain the Indian forwards who fast penetrated inside the Pakistan half time and again.
All the goals by the Indians were field goals achieved through attacking game.
In the second half, Pakistan attacked Indian inside area through various moves.
The Green-shirts got four penalty corners but failed to capitalise on them.
Pakistan captain Dilbar made a move from right side and after dodging the defenders netted Pakistan’s solitary goal from top of the D.
Pakistan chief coach Tahir Zaman told ‘The News’ that nobody liked defeat but people should realise that it was Pakistan’s first international match after a one-year gap and they played after only two weeks training.
“The main thing is that Pakistan junior team bounced back in the second half and allowed Indians to score only one goal besides scoring a goal when Dilbar outclassed the Indian defenders,” he said.
The chief coach observed that the defenders’ weaknesses were exposed and the goalkepeer also did not play well. “These weaknesses will be rectified in the next matches,” he said.
He said that he was hopeful the team would bounce back in the remaining matches and their performance would be much improved.
He reiterated that Pakistan team was passing through a rebuilding process, focusing on the Asia Cup next month.
He said Pakistan had been in complete isolation for more than a year. “Such defeats were expected. We will gradually improve through such events,” he said.
He said the Indian team had the services of their three senior players and they were not a weak side in any way.
“We got four penalty corners, which means our forwards played well. If a few of them had been converted our performance would have been much better,” Tahir said.
He added that the next match against Australia would be a hard fight which would give experience to the Green-shirts. “We will play against the Aussies with a big heart. We will see how much our players have improved by playing against India,” said the chief coach.