Muscat: The FIH Men’s Olympic Qualifier in Muscat will enter semifinals stage on Saturday as four teams will vie for the top three spots to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris including World No 4 ranked Great Britain, World No 5 ranked Germany, New Zealand and Pakistan. World champions Germany will take on Pakistan in the first semifinal which will begin at 18:00 at Hockey Oman Stadium. In the following game, Great Britain will take on New Zealand and the match will start at 20:30 at the same venue.
In earlier matches on Saturday, China will play against Canada in fifth to eighth place play-off while Chile will face Malaysia. In the late matches on Thursday, Great Britain registered their third successive win and topped the group with full mark of nine points from three games. Britain confirmed their place as topper of Pool A after they outclassed China 6-0. The six goals in the match were registered by Roper Phil, Sam Ward, Wallace Zachary and Calnan Will. Sam Ward celebrated his 100th cap for Great Britain by scoring a brace.
In the last match of group stage, Pakistan registered a thrilling 3-3 draw against Malaysia to progress into the semifinals after finishing second in Pool A. The draw ensured Pakistan’s credit to four points from three matches with one win, a draw and a loss. China were placed third with three points while Malaysia ended fourth with a point. Saari Fitri took the lead for Malaysia in the 20th minute by a field goal but three minutes later Pakistan’s Khan Sufyan made it 1-1. Azrai Abu Kamal managed to put Malaysia in the lead again and ended the second quarter at 2-1. In the third quarter, Pakistan entered the match strongly as Butt Ammad made it 2-2.
Malaysian players were under pressure as they entered the match as a must-win encounter. Ashari Firhan brought his Malaysian team to the lead for the third time as he netted the third goal before Rana Waheed Ashraf sealed the draw in the 52nd minute for Pakistan and to move into semifinals. In earlier matches on Thursday, Germany sealed berth in the last four stage besides New Zealand from Pool B.
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