Japan defeated Pakistan 3-2 in an interesting final of the 3-nation hockey tournament at Muscat’s Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex.
The two thousand capacity stadium was jam packed mostly with the Pakistani expats. Fast up and down game was witnessed Japan availed their first penalty corner in the fourth minute with a deceptive two touch indirect drill. Yamasaki, standing close to the goal, caressed the ball in with an extended flat stick.
A quick counter resulted in the second Japanese goal in the 12th minute after a spate of one touch passes.Pakistani defence was guilty of poor marking in the circle. Within two minutes, Pakistan pulled back one when captain Rizwan Senior’s ball from left side went high in the circle off a defender’s stick and Arslan Qadir expertly put it in from near the goal.
There was no goal in the second quarter.
10th Hockey Asia Cup: Pakistan beat host Bangladesh 7-0
1st Half: Japan: 2, Pakistan: 1
In the second half also, the pattern was mostly the same; fluent hockey. Japanese displayed planned game with their attacks coming through swift counters. One such turn over resulted in the third Japanese goal in the 50th minute. Down by two goals with just 10 minutes left, Pakistan worked hard to come back. They had a couple of open chances and two penalty corners. Off their last PC in the 56th minute
Mubashar Ali’s strong push hit the board on goal keeper’s right. But time ran out for them
Scorers:
Japan: Koji Yamasaki (4′ off PC), Kazuma Murata (12′), Hirotaka Wikuri (50′)
Pakistan: Arslan Qadir (14′), Mubashar Ali (56′ off PC)
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