Pakistan hockey crush Egypt by 6-2

IPOH: Pakistan kept up their chase for a place in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup final when they defeated Egypt 6-2.

With the win, Pakistan has eight points and will complete their fixtures on Saturday when they take on South Korea.

Pakistan will be hoping that Korea will hold or defeat Australia in a later match as an Australian win could put Pakistan out of reach for a place in Sunday’s final as Australia have a relatively easy match against China on Saturday and can end up with 13 points, thus shutting the door on Malaysia, Pakistan and Korea.

Pakistan went ahead in the 12th minute when Muhammad Touseeq scored. Six minutes later it was the turn of Mohamad Zubair to score to double the advantage for Pakistan.

Skipper Muhammad Imran converted Pakistan’s first penalty corner in the 28th minute to put Pakistan firmly in the drivers seat. But Pakistan needed more goals and in the second half they went about doing just that.

Abdul Haseem Khan scored in the 40th minute before Muhamad Waqas made it 5-0 two minutes later.

Egypt missed a penalty stroke in the 49th minute when Mohamad Amr’s fumbled the attempt but two minutes later it was Pakistan’s keeper Imran Shah who fumbled as he allowed a tame shot by Mohammad Hassan to trickle in.

Haseem Khan however increased the tally to 6-1 scoring in the 51st minute and Pakistan upped the tempo to increase the scoreline but just could not find the back of the net. Mohammad Hassan scored Egypt’s second 20 seconds from time to make the final score 6-2.