Azlan Shah Cup: Pakistan go stronger, India and Australia win too

Round-up of matches on day 2

Pakistan 4 (Rehan Butt, Sohail Abbas, Abdul Haseem Khan, Waqas Akbar) beat South Korea 2 (Hyun Hya-sung 2) - Half-Time 1-1

Pakistan won their second game in a row by beating strong Korean side after going one goal down early in the match. Under coach Khwaja Junaid Pakistan showed tremendous mental strength to top the points table from their group.

Korea went ahead in the 13th minute through Hyun Hya-sung’s penalty corner flick. Pakistan failed to convert two penalty corners, but experienced striker Rehan Butt put Pakistan on level terms in the 21st minute.

After the break, Koreans attacked vociferously and reaped reward by getting two back-to-back penalty corners, Hya-sung scored his second goal from the second penalty corner. Sohail Abbas converted one of the penalty corners in the 61st minute, followed soon by a field goal from Abdul Haseem Khan. Waqas converted the fourth penalty corner to make it 4-2 in favor of Pakistan.

India 3 (Rupinder Pal Singh 3) beat England 1 (James Tindall) - Half-Time 1-0

Rupinder Pal Singh, who has recently graduated from the junior side, scored a hat-trick as India proved too strong for the Britons at Ipoh. Rupinder drag-flicked thrice in the 10th, 54th and 57th minutes to give India 3-0 lead before James Tindall reduced the margin by scoring for Britain in the 62nd minute. Indian goalkeeper Bharat Chhetri made a few valiant saves for his team as Britain tried several attempts to claw back into the game, but India prevailed in the end.

Australia 2 (Simon Ochard, Jason Wilson) beat Malaysia 1 (Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin) - Half-Time 1-0

Malaysia fought brilliantly but conceded a last minute goal to go down 2-1 to Australia. Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin scored a fine goal in the 23rd minute. Australia despite repeated efforts to score could not find the opening for almost quarter of an hour. Ochard converted a penalty stroke to bring Australia back into the game, but Malaysia squandered a golden opportunity when Faizal Saari could not convert a penalty stroke minutes later. Just a minute before close, Wilson sealed the match through penalty corner goal. It was excruciatingly close for Malaysia.