First match of Azlan Shah Hockey Cup campaign is being played between Pakistan and Canada in Ipoh, Malaysia.
Advertisement
India were made to work hard by an inexperienced Japanese side, nine of whose 18-member squad for this tournament are making their global debut, reported PTI.
Qadir opened the account with a field goal in the 27th minute and converted a penalty corner a minute later to put Pakistan 2-0 ahead.
The selectors have also chose to rest seasoned drag flicker VR Raghunath and give junior India drag flicker Harmanpreet Singh an outing to prove that he is ready to take over from his senior rivals. Skipper Sardar then capitalised on a short diagonal pass from Jasjit Singh Kular on the right wing to beat Japanese goalkeeper Takashi Yoshikawa with a reverse shot that went into the far corner of the goal. Indian strikers then had more than a couple of chances to deflect crosses into the Japanese goal, but were often caught on the wrong foot.
Seven teams namely Pakistan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, Japan and Malaysia are taking part in the tournament.
Speaking after the match Chief Coach Roelant Oltmans said “When players haven’t played competitive matches for a while, they lack a certain amount of match sharpness and that was evident in our play in the first half”.
The Tigers retook the lead after Shahril Saabah scored four minutes later but their hopes of a memorable win were dashed when Simon Child equalized on the 55th minute of the tie. “The young players will be under scrutiny”, said Oltmans, a former Dutch national coach who has now spent considerable time in different roles with the Indian squad.
On the other hand Japan served notice that they were not in Ipoh to make up the numbers. He was immediately given permission to return to Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur and board the evening flight on Wednesday to India.
Advertisement
Boosted by their bronze in the Hockey World League Finals at Raipur in December 2015, India will test the ability of several youngsters to reproduce their training in match situations in the Azlan Shah Cup.
