HULUNBUIR: In an exciting Asian Champions Trophy match at the Moqi Hockey Stadium on Monday, Pakistan pulled off an incredible comeback only to be stunned by a late equalizer by South Korea. The game ended in a 2-2 draw.
Three goals were scored in the last minute of a frantic finish to the match; Pakistan rallied from a 1-0 deficit to lead 2-1 thanks to two goals by Hannan Shahid, but the Koreans equalized with four seconds left to save a point.
Pakistan began the tournament with a 2-2 tie against Malaysia, and now they are unblemished but without a win.
After the game, Hannan stated, “We’re happy we were able to earn a point and not lose three.” “Not coming out on top was a disappointing outcome. We started sloppily and made far too many mistakes. We’ll reflect on what went wrong tonight and try to improve [for our next game] against Japan [on Wednesday].
Pakistan generated a flurry of opportunities in the first quarter. The focal points of Pakistan’s offense were Hannan and Ahmad Ajaz, who made his 100th international appearance; in the first few minutes of the match, they created up to seven circle entrances between them.
Although they could move quickly and create space, their shots on goal were mostly off target. The Pakistani fans in the stadium were hoping for a goal when Hannan, a skilled circle penetration player, with five seconds remaining in the first quarter. However, Korean goaltender Jaehan Kim rejected his attempt.
Korea had superior ball possession in the second quarter despite Pakistan’s first-quarter dominance in ball possession. Despite having less circle penetrations than their rivals, they were nevertheless able to set up a wonderful goal through Jiwang Hyun in the sixteenth minute. Hyeseung Lee provided him with excellent support as he made a deft pass to Jiwang in front of the goal post after he scooped up a nice aerial ball.
Pakistan’s attackers created numerous opportunities in the third quarter, but none of them ended up in the goal, adding to their displeasure. Despite winning two penalty corners, they were unable to capitalize on them due to the Koreans’ compactness.
Just when it appeared that everything was gone, Hannan scored two spectacular goals, but in the last seconds, Sufyan Khan’s green card gave Korea’s Sunghyun Kim the opportunity to equalize.
India extended their flawless record with a 5-1 thumping of Japan, and they now lead the round-robin standings with a maximum of six points. With two goals to start and finish the scoring for India, Sukhjeet Singh was joined on the scoresheet by Abhishek, Sanjay, and Uttam Singh, the bronze medallists from the Paris Olympics.
Japan, with just one point from two games, led 3-1 with a goal from Matsumoto Kazumasa in the 41st minute. India had earlier scored through goals from Sukhjeet, Abishek, and Sanjay in the first 17 minutes, but goals from Uttam and Sukhjeet had dashed their dreams of a comeback.
After a 4-2 victory over Malaysia in the day’s last game, China, who had lost to India in their opening match, are now second on the points table with three points, one more than Pakistan and Korea.
Gao Jiesheng’s opening goal for the hosts was cancelled out by Malaysia’s Azrai Abu Kamal in the first quarter as both teams exchanged goals. In the 32nd, Lin Changliang doubled China’s lead before Gao added his second with a drag-flick. In the 50th minute, Faizal Saari gave the Malaysians a response, and six minutes later, Chao Jieming’s goal gave the Chinese the victory.
