MUSCAT, AUG 31
India and Pakistan justified their top billing to book semifinals of the Men’s Hockey5s Asia Cup in Salalah on Thursday.
India produced a tournament-best 35-1 against Japan before edging strong contenders Malaysia 7-5 in the Men’s Hockey5s Asia Cup in Salalah on Thursday.
Pakistan maintained their unbeaten record in the tournament with a thrilling 5-5 draw against Malaysia, who also kept their hopes for a semifinal spot.
Pakistan finished on top of Elite group with 13 points from five matches. India were second with 12 points while Malaysia ended group phase with 10 points.
Oman are fourth with three points and Bangladesh have same points but a lesser goal difference compared to the hosts.
FIRST POINTS
Hosts Oman earned their first-ever Asia Cup win when they thrashed Japan 14-4 in a late match on Wednesday.
However, the hosts fought hard but lost 9-4 to a strong Pakistani side in their match on Thursday.
At the Sultan Qaboos Youth Complex, India bounced back from their close defeat to Pakistan (5-4) with a crucial win against Malaysia in a pulsating match.
The teams were locked at 3-3 at the half-time.
Gurjot Singh was the star of match with five goals for India (7,11, 17, 29 and 30th minutes). Mohammed Raheel (21) and Maninder Singh (12) were the other scorers.
For Malaysia, Arif Ishak (6), captain Ismail Abu (7), Mohammed Din (8), Kamarulzaman Kamaruddin (26) and Syarman Mat (30+) were on target.
GOALS RAIN
It was raining goals during the India-Japan match earlier with Maninder Singh netting 10 times for India. Seven goals came from Mohammed Raheel’s stick. Gurjot Singh and Pawan Rajbhar scored five goals each.
Sukhvinder had four goals while captain Mandeep Mor hit three goals.
The goal spree put two Indians in the top three of top-scorer list.
Japanese captain Koichi Takeyasu, like in the match against Pakistan, netted the lone goal for them.
Maninder came second with 20 goals in the chart topped by Pakistan’s Abdul Rana with 21 goals. India’s Raheel came third with 15 goals.
In other matches, Iran smashed Afghanistan 12-2 to top the Challenger group with 12 points from four matches. Kazakhstan came second with nine points after beating Hong Kong 11-4.
Indonesia were third with six points with both their wins coming on Thursday. In the first match, Indonesia beat Hong Kong 12-5. Later they thrashed Afghanistan 14-2.
The cross-over (deciding the other two semifinalists) and placement matches will be held on Friday.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
