India outplay Pakistan 3-1

NEWDELHI:DEFENDING champions India rallied brilliantly to thrash arch-rivals Pakistan 3-1 in their second pool match of the Asian Champions trophy in Muscat, Oman, on Saturday.

Pakistan shocked India when they scored in the first minute as Irfan Jr converted a penalty corner at the Sultan Qaboos Complex. Despite a flurry of attacks by India, Pakistan maintained the 1-0 advantage till the end of the first quarter.

However, India came back strongly to score twice in the next two quarters. India equalised in the 24th minute with Manpreet Singh scoring a brilliant field goal. The Indian skipper beautifully caressed the ball through the midfield and dissected the Pakistani defence to draw level.

The third quarter saw India put up a dominating show with swift moves and counterattacks. Two minutes into the half-time, Mandeep Singh (32nd) gave India the lead. He latched on to a pass from Akashdeep Singh and made

space in the crowded defence to hit the ball between his legs.

Young Dilpreet Singh, who scored a hat-trick in the game against Oman, extended the lead to 3-1 in the 42nd minute. A fast move from the right saw Lalit Upadhyay pass the ball to Dilpreet who calmly put the ball inside.

In the fourth quarter, goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who was playing his 200th international, was replaced by Pathak Krishan. India continued with their raids even as Pakistan made attempts to come back into the match. But India looked in complete control as they registered their second win of the tournament, having beaten Oman 11-0 in their opener.

The last time the two teams met, India had defeated Pakistan 2-1 in the bronze medal game at the Asian Games in Jakarta in September.

JAPAN DOMINATE

In the other match of the day, Asian Games gold medallists Japan got into winning form with a 2-0 victory over South Korea. Recovering from their 0-3 loss against Malaysia in the opener on Thursday, Japan’s goals came through a penalty corner conversion from Shota Yamada (18th) and a field strike by Wataru Matsumoto (51st).

Japan dominated proceedings but faltered in adding to Yamada’s goal due to mistakes upfront. Japan captain Genki Mitani said his team should have converted the chances into more goals. “We’re happy with the victory, but should have scored more goals,” said Mitani. “Our young players may have erred in fully executing the game-plan but they gave a fine display.”

Japan coach Siegfried Aikman expressed satisfaction in the manner the boys went all out looking for goals until the end.