Pakistan finished fifth in the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy after overpowering China 6-1 on Friday.
The Green Shirts got off to a superb start as they took a 4-0 lead in the first quarter. China scored one goal in third quarter but went on to concede two more after that to lose the match by a margin of five goals.
Mohammad Ammad and Mohammad Sufyan scored two goals each for Pakistan. Hanan Shahid and Abdul Rana also scored one goal each.
Benhai Chen scored the only goal of the match for China through a penalty corner in the 35th minute.
Earlier, Pakistan hockey team were knocked out of the race for the last four of the Asian Champions Trophy after losing 4-0 against arch-rivals India in Chennai, India, on Wednesday.
This was the first time Pakistan failed to finish in the top four since the introduction of the Asian Champions Trophy.
Pakistan, Japan and Korea all had the same number of points but the latter teams made their way to the semi-finals due to better goal difference.
The Green Shirts only managed to win one out of five games during round-robin stage of the tournament. Their first game of the event ended with a 3-1 defeat against Malaysia. After that, they drew two consecutive games against Korea, 1-1, and Japan 3-3.
Pakistan’s first win the tournament came against China, 2-1, who finished last on the points table with only one point.
Later today, Malaysia will take on Korea in the first semi-final, while India will face Japan in the second semi-final.
The final and the third/fourth place match will be played tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday directed Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate the irregularities of the elections of Pakistan’s Hockey Federation and other matters.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has taken notice of irregularities in various matters, including the elections of the Pakistan Hockey Federation. He has directed for a thorough investigation into these matters and has also instructed for a reference to be sent to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).—Agencies
