HULUNBUIR (China): In an impressive display, unbeaten Pakistan beat Japan on Wednesday to register their first victory in the Asian Champions Trophy here at the Moqi Hockey Training Base.

The goals were scored by Ahmad Nadeem and Sufyan Khan while Raiki Fujishima scored the consolation goal for Japan.

With this win, Pakistan got to second spot in the pool standings with five points behind India.

The opening quarter witnessed Pakistan’s intent to stay ahead of Japan.

Though the Greenshirts have remained unbeaten in the tournament so far with a 2-2 draw against Malaysia followed by a same-scoreline stalemate against Korea, they needed a win to stay in contention for the title.

The strikers put Pakistan’s intent on display with three early forays into the striking circle but could not put it past the Japanese goalie Takumi Kitagawa.

Meanwhile, the Ammad Butt-led Pakistan did well to deny Japan their first big opportunity through a penalty corner in the sixth minute with a good video referral.

After a couple of early attempts, Pakistan were finally able to draw the first blood with a brilliant field goal by Ahmad Nadeem. It was Ghazanfar Ali who set up the attack by assisting in-form Hannan Shahid who played a clever tackle at the top of the circle to beat Japanese defenders and assist Nadeem.

Pakistan built on the momentum in the second quarter to extend the lead to 2-0 when they earned a penalty corner in the 21st minute.

Sufyan was on target, picked up the injection well to drive it past Japan’s goalie Yosei Oba. Trailing by two goals, Japan had to make amends to a poor start. They tried to hold on to the ball possession and create chances in Pakistan’s circle but could not beat their defence.

However, an infringement by Pakistani defender gave away a penalty corner in the 27th minute.

Though Japan messed up the execution in their first attempt, another foot foul in the following minute saw them being awarded another penalty corner. This time, they made no mistake in execution, with captain Fujishima driving the ball past Pakistan’s goalkeeper Ishtiaq Abdullah Khan.

Following the half-time break, both the teams shifted gears as they pushed for goals. While Pakistan made as many as seven circle entries, Japan made six. Only two minutes into the third quarter, a good referral for back stick saw Japan win a penalty corner but poor execution denied them a goal.

Meanwhile, Pakistan too created four penalty corners in this quarter but could not convert any.

Pakistan’s defence was put to test in the final quarter with Japan winning as many as 12 penalty corners.

They made desperate attempts to find an equaliser but Pakistan held their nerves and defended with all their might. Their goalkeeper Abdullah Khan was also up to the task, padded away a couple of penalty corners to keep his team in the lead.

The last six minutes remained tense, with Japan dominating the ball possession but Pakistan fought hard to hold on to the lead, and seal the match with three points in their kitty.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2024