Pakistan trounce China to take series

FAISALABAD: Pakistan on Saturday emerged victorious in a four-match series with China, the first international hockey in the troubled country since 2004.

Pakistan notched up a 3-1 victory after taking the first two meetings in the port city Karachi earlier this week by 3-0 and 5-3.

Their final match will be played in Lahore on Sunday, but Saturday’s win gives Pakistan the series’ title.

Before a home crowd in the city of Faisalabad, Pakistani forward Ali Shan struck in the second minute of the match, scoring a field goal to give the hosts an early lead in the series’ third encounter.

Vice-captain Shakeel Abbasi doubled Pakistan’s lead with another field goal in the 21st minute.

Chinese Liu Yixian converted a penalty corner in the 61st minute to give the visitors their only goal of the match.

Pakistan’s Waqas Sharif drew another field goal in the 64th minute to help his side cap their victory.

Read more »

Posted in: SPORTS

PCB zeroes in on Whatmore as hunt for head coach continues

KARACHI: Australian Dav Whatmore is the front runner to be appointed Pakistan coach, a senior Pakistan Cricket Board official said on Saturday.

Whatmore, who led Sri Lanka to victory at the 1996 World Cup, is currently in charge of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Twenty20 Indian Premier League.

“Whatmore is due to come to Pakistan sometime next month to discuss issues relating to our search for a head coach,” PCB senior board official, Subhan Ahmad said.

“It would be premature to say we have taken a decision to appoint Whatmore as head coach but we are in the process of interviewing candidates and Whatmore is a front runner.”

The 57-year-old Whatmore, who played seven tests for Australia, has also enjoyed a successful coaching spell with Bangladesh, leading them to their first test match and subsequent series win in 2005.

Whatmore came close to being appointed Pakistan coach in 2007 before the PCB selected his compatriot Geoff Lawson.

Pakistan face England in a test and one-day series starting next month with interim coach and chief selector Mohsin Khan continuing to lead the side.

Mohsin was in charge for the recent test series victories over Bangladesh and Sri Lanka after Waqar Younis resigned as head coach in September due to personal and health reasons.

Read more »

Posted in: SPORTS

Pakistan marks return of international hockey with 3-0 win

KARACHI: Asian Games Champions Pakistan got off to a confident start in the four-match hockey series with an easy 3-0 win over China at the Hockey Club of Pakistan on Wednesday.

It was a historic occasion as international hockey returned to Pakistan after seven years.

Pakistan enjoyed the upper hand during the match and utilized half of their half a dozen penalty corners to secure a comfortable win.

Muhammad Irfan and captain Muhammad Imran scored the goals in the first session and Muhammad Tauseeq banged one goal in the second session.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who was the chief guest at the ceremony was introduced to both the teams and officials before the start of the match.

President Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Qasim Zia, Secretary Asif Bajwa, Chief Selector Hanif Khan, Olympians Hasan Sardar, Danish Kaleem, Salim Sherwani, Ahmed Alam and Secretary of Karachi Hockey Association (KHA) Farooq Khan and other officials were also present on the occasion.

Spearhead Shakeel Abbasi made two lively crosses in the first five minutes but fellow forwards failed to divert the ball into the goal.

Pakistan was rewarded in the 15th minute when they secured a penalty corner after the ball struck the defender inside the circle. Muhammad Irfan smartly converted it giving no chance to Chinese goalie Su Rifeng.

Pakistani forwards maintained a constant pressure on the Chinese goal. After missing the second penalty corner in the 20th minute, three minutes later Muhammad Imran doubled the lead with a well executed drag-flick in the 23rd minute.

Chinese forwards showed spark in patches by smart checking but the defenders thwarted their attempts. Dong Yang, Liu Yixian and Sun Long created a few lovely moves.

Pakistan went into half-time with a 2-0 lead. However, in the second half, the Chinese looked slightly better and picked up the tempo with a couple of moves.

In the 51st minutes it was young Muhammad Tauseeq, who converted the team’s fifth penalty corner with a powerful drag push landing on the top of the cage.

Chinese forwards were determined to score their opener and forced back to back penalty corners in t62 and 63 minutes. On the last penalty corner, Song Yi’s brilliant attempt struck the cross bar to the dismay of his teammates.

Putting the Pakistan defence under pressure, Cui Yongxin and Lu Fenghui combined efforts nearly paid dividends. However, goalkeeper Imran Shah, who was preferred over seasoned Salman Akbar took the try on the pads.

The second match of the series will be on Thursday at the same venue and next test matches will be played at Faisalabad (December 24) and Lahore (December 25).

Read more »

Posted in: SPORTS