Pakistan begins Junior Asia Cup title campaign with 7-2 win against China

A fine brace each from striker Hamza Fayyaz and defender Sufyan Khan helped Pakistan made a solid start to their Junior Hockey Asia Cup campaign when they bulldozed China 7-2 in their Group B opener in Muscat, Oman, on Wednesday.

They were also joined on the scoresheet by Mohammad Ammad, Rana Waleed and Mohammad Mugheera.

In the first quarter Pakistan made an aggressive start and in the third minute Pakistan’s captain Hannan Shahid made a fine effort but failed to feed his partner rightly in the area.

In the seventh minute, Pakistan got a penalty corner but Bannu-born Sufyan failed to capitalize on the golden opportunity as he failed to get a shot on target.

At this stage nimble-footed Chinese also left some impact with a few rallies but failed to reach the Pakistan’s goal area. They kept the pressure and in the ninth minute they entered Pakistan’s area for the first time but Pakistan’s defense foiled that attempt nicely.

Soon afterwards, China inflicted another rally but left-half Aqeel Ahmed intercepted it on the brink of the danger zone. In the 13th minute Hayat carried the ball into the edge of the area but failed to control it.

Pakistan had a fine start to the second quarter when Hamza Fayyaz put them ahead with a nice field goal. In the 20th minute Meanwhile, in the 22nd minute Pakistan secured penalty corner and it was Sufyan Khan who made no mistake to stretch Pakistan’s lead to 2-0.

Two minutes later Hamza struck again, stretching Pakistan’s lead to 3-0.

In the 24th minute, China reduced the deficit with a field goal from Di Yanwei. At this stage, China kept the pressure and secured three successive penalty corners but failed to add to their tally. Pakistan’s keeper Mohammad Janjua did a fine job when he saved a PC dash in the 26th minute.

In the 41st minute, Pakistan got a penalty corner but China’s keeper saved it nicely.

In the 43rd minute Pakistan took their lead to 4-1 when midfielder Mohammad Ammad found the net through crowded defense leaving China in deep trouble.

Flurry of goals in the final quarter

The fourth quarter remained highly sensational as it yielded four goals, three from Pakistan and one from China.

In the 46th minute Rana Waleed inflated Pakistan’s tally to 5-1 before Sufyan completed his double in the 50th minute and Mohammad Mugheera struck one in the 51st minute to put his country in commanding position.

China reduced the deficit to 2-7 when Wang Yubo struck on short corner just one minute from final whistle.

Pakistan now will face Bangladesh in their second show on Thursday (tomorrow).

Malaysia and Oman are the other teams in Pakistan’s Group.