Pakistan scored a late equaliser and drew the match with India at 1-1 in their opening fixture at the Asia Cup on Monday. The arch-rivals now share the same points after their first match in the group stage of the tournament. India’s second match is against Japan tomorrow and Pakistan will have to face hosts Indonesia.
Asia Cup Hockey: Pakistan hold India to a 1-1 draw
India and Pakistan had a good start to the tournament. Both the teams got two penalty corner opportunities early on but couldn’t convert those chances. In the eighth minute, India’s 20-year old Selva Karthi finally converted a penalty corner opportunity into a goal on his senior India debut that helped the team lead the game. Pakistan did put pressure on the Indian half and had several opportunities to score but India’s goalkeeper restricted them and helped them maintain their lead as the teams went into the first-half break.
In the third quarter, India again dominated the contest as they created several scoring opportunities. Indian forwards managed to penetrate the Pakistan defence and got four penalty corner opportunities. They couldn’t find the net as the third quarter too came to an end with the score at 1-0. In the fourth set, Pakistan finally managed to find the net in the last quarter as Abdul Rana managed to find the net through a rebound off the Indian keeper after a penalty corner. Pakistan managed to hold on to end the game on a draw. Pakistan’s goalkeeper Akmal Hussain was declared player of the match.
India, Pakistan, Japan and Indonesia have been drawn in Pool A. Bangladesh, Malaysia, Oman and South Korea are in Pool B.
The final will be played on June 1. The Asian Hockey Federation released the schedule for the eight-team tournament on Tuesday. The South Korean team is the most successful hockey team in this tournament winning the 1994, 1999, 2009 and 2013 Cups.
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