The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : Pakistan draws first blood

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Sep 25, 2004

Sport

Sport - Hockey

Pakistan draws first blood

KARACHI, SEPT. 24. Pakistan recorded a scrappy 2-1 win over archrival India on Friday in the opening game of the eight-match hockey series in the southern city of Karachi.

Pakistan's short corner specialist Sohail Abbas neutralised Arjun Halappa's third minute goal with a rocketing push at the top right corner of the goal in the 17th minute from the short corner, before striker Rehan Butt struck four minutes later.

Dangerous moves

Pakistani forwards made more dangerous moves than their opponents in the first half, but poor finishing denied them from scoring more goals in the first session.

Kashif Jawad slipped past two defenders but failed to finish it off with a weak reverse flick and then seconds from the first half he dabbed the ball well over the goal post with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Jawad's unimpressive show continued in the second half — this time in the 56th minute when his feeble push was easily stopped by Indian goalkeeper Adrian D'Souza.

Shabbir Hussain could have raised Pakistan's tally but his attempt at the goal went wide.

India's forwards hardly made any combined moves to challenge Pakistan's defence after Halappa converted his team's first short corner off a rebound.

India's best chance to equalise came late in the second half but Sandeep Michael wasted an easy opportunity when he failed to stop the ball cleanly in the striking circle.

Both India and Pakistan disappointed their fans at Athens Olympics.

Pakistan finished fifth after defeats at the hands of Germany and Spain in the group matches, failing to qualify for the semifinals.

India, an eight-time Olympic gold medallist, finished seventh, causing selectors to fire the team's top five players, including former skippers Dhanraj Pillay and Baljit Dhillon.

After the match, Indian captain Dilip Tirkey told reporters that the team made mistakes and missed some chances to win the match.

``We got our chances which we missed, but we will try not to repeat the mistakes in the remaining matches,'' he said, adding ``we have lots of new players who are trying to adjust into the team, but they will certainly take some time.''

``The series is good for the revival of Asian hockey and both Pakistan and India would get benefits from this series,'' he said.

The home-and-away series of eight Test matches is being revived after five years. The last time the sides competed against each other was in a bilateral series in 1999. Pakistan will host four matches from Sept. 24 to Oct.1, while India will host four matches from Oct. 4-10.

The remaining three matches in Pakistan will be played in Quetta (Sept. 27), Peshawar (Sept. 29) and Lahore (Oct. 1). — AP

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