MUSCAT: Fahad al Lawati netted Oman’s first ever goal in the FIH Men’s Hockey5s World Cup (Oman 2024) as the hosts played out a 3-3 draw against Malaysia in pool D match on Sunday. At the Hockey Oman Stadium, Oman missed earning the three points after they delivered a top game. Malaysia took the lead in the first half by 2-1 as Mat Syarman (9) and Anuar Akhimullah (12) scored through field goals before Al Lawati netted the opening goal for Oman to end the first quarter at 2-1.
In the second half, the opponent began attacking towards Oman’s side as Anuar Akhimullah registered the third goal to make it 3-1. Later, Oman’s players pressed hard to score and after several attempts, Madit Aiman struck the second goal in the 22nd minute.
Three minutes later, Khalid al Shaaibi found the equaliser for the hosts Oman in the 25th minute to finish the match at 3-3. The draw allowed both teams to share one point each. For the same pool, US thumped Fiji 14-3 as Montilla Alberto and Charasika Sekayi scored Hatrick to assist their team to claim the winning points.
In the opening day of the FIH Men’s Hockey5s World Cup (Oman 2024) the Netherlands, Pakistan, India, Egypt, Kenya posted wins in their first-round games. Netherlands team began their campaign in the inaugural edition of the FIH Men’s Hockey5s World Cup on a bright note as they registered a 6-3 win over Poland in the opener of pool A. Van Der Drift Yannick found the target in an early minutes of the game as he netted the opening goal in the second minute before De Wijn Sander doubled the lead to 2-0. Yannick returned to score his second goal and make it 3-0 and his teammate Schouten Sheldon raised the scoring to 4-0 through a field goal while Hołosyniuk Jakub managed to score the first goal for Poland and end the first quarter at 4-1. In the following half, both teams entered the match with better tactics as Poland’s Rutkowski Wojciech scored the second goal in the 19th minute and two minutes later, Schop Alexander scored the sixth goal to seal Dutch first win of the tournament despite the third consultation goal of Poland in the 30th minute by Jarzembowski Damian.
Second straight win
In the following match, the Netherlands beat Pakistan 5-3 in the second round to register their second successive victory and confirm their presence in the quarters after a thrilling match. The first half of the match ended at 1-1 draw before Dutch players analysed the opponents well to overcome and emerge victorious. The second straight win placed Netherlands in the top of the group with six points while Pakistan and Poland positioned in the second and third places respectively with three points and goals difference. On the other hand, Pakistan thrashed Nigeria 11-5 in the first match of the pool A.
India and Egypt impress
India and Egypt impressed in the pool B as they posted huge wins. The South Asian team outclassed Switzerland 9-1 after Maninder Singh delivered an outstanding show as he scored a super hat-trick while the African team excelled a great show against Jamaica following their 10-2 win. Ragab Hossameldin was the star as he netted a hat-trick in the game.
Kenya registered a crucial 6-1 win over New Zealand to book their initial winning points in pool C while Australia was held to a 5-5 draw by Trinidad & Tobago. After the completion of first round matches, Kenya led the group with three points while Australia and Trinidad & Tobago shared one point in the second and third positions.
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