LAHORE: A brace by Abu Bakr Mahmood helped Pakistan defeat Austria 4-2 on Wednesday as the Green-shirts reached the semi-finals of the FIH Men’s World Cup qualifier in Ismailia, Egypt on Wednesday.

Pakistan, by winning this match, also topped Pool ‘B’ of the eight-team contest.

Besides Abu Bakr, other two goal scorers for Pakistan were Afraz and Mohammad Sufiyan Khan. For Austria, Kellner Maximilian and Scholz Maximilian scored one apiece.

Afraz gave Pakistan an early lead through a field goal in the fourth minute of the first quarter. Pakistan in the second quarter earned four penalty corners but failed to convert any of them. They got four more penalty corners in the third quarter but all were wasted before Abu Bakr scored in the 44th minute to put his team 2-0 ahead.

In the final quarter, Austria got a couple of penalty corners but could not score.

They finally got their opening goal through Kellner who scored in the 47th minute to reduce the lead to 2-1.

Pakistan then got three more penalty corners quickly but with no goal. Sufiyan in another field attempt then made it 3-1 in the 51st minute. The lead was extended to 4-1 by a goal from Abu Bakr a minute later.

Two minutes later, Scholz scored with a penalty stroke to make it 4-2.

Earlier in the event, Pakistan first defeated China 5-4 and then overpowered Malaysia 5-3 before toppling Austria to top the pool with nine points from three games.

The Ammad Butt-led team now just need to win the semi-final to qualify for this year’s FIH World Cup scheduled be staged in Wavre, Belgium and Amstelveen, Netherlands from Aug 14 to 30. Top three finishers in the Ismailia event will qualify for the World Cup.

Pakistan will play the semi-final either against Japan or Egypt, both having three points each, who were scheduled to meet each other in their last Pool ‘A’ match late Wednesday night.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2026