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| July 15, 2003 | Tuesday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 14, 1424 |
Much-improved China gain first victory
China 3
Pakistan Juniors 1
KARACHI, July 14: China exploited Pakistan Juniors weaknesses to score a deserved 3-1 victory for their first win in the Pakistan-China friendship hockey series on Monday.
The Chinese, who seemed to have acclimatized after playing three matches in scorching heat, were in full control of the proceedings from the first whistle at Steel Mills ground.
Bothered by hot and humid conditions during the first game the Chinese worked like well-oiled machine with their forwards fully exposing Pakistan Juniors defensive shortcomings.
Frequent substitutions by the Pakistan Juniors bench also did not help home team’s cause and never allowed the greenshirts to get into rhythm. Interestingly, sluggish Imran Khan, who is actually a right-half, was fielded as right-in.
Another decision by the Pakistani bench took its toll when promising striker Yasir Islam was called back to the bench in the second half.
The forward-line, which is claimed by the team officials as the major weapon, was lacking in basic skills, hitting, stopping, ball control and possession.
At the outset, it looked a perfect start for the home team when skipper Tariq Aziz gave the home side lead in the 12th minute off an indirect drill.
Both the sides exchanged ends, but their efforts never bore fruit as they failed to score until 24th minute. The Chinese gradually got on top and Hu Huisen cleverly converted on a perfect drill to make the scoreline 1-1.
The visitors could have gone ahead in the 27th minute, but Yu Yang missed the clear chance, although the circle hardly had any Pakistani defender except goalkeeper Adeel Anwar.
A questionable 39th-minute decision by the Chinese umpire Chente Kang saw mild protest from Akhtar Ali who was blocked by the defenders when he was about to hit near goalmouth.
Akhtar demanded a penalty stroke, while Kang allowed a short corner instead which was wasted.
China were reduced to ten players in the 45th minute when umpire Zulfiqar Hussain showed Yu Yang yellow card for trying to tackle the ball by raising his stick above his head.
Pakistan Juniors, who got five penalty corners, were kept at bay during the fourth short corner when China goalkeeper Xiang Fe padded the attempt away.
The hosts lost whatever confidence they had when the Chinese scored two goals within the span of five minutes.
Hu Liang’s splendid indirect try eluded Pakistani defenders and the ball went into the goal off goalkeeper Adeel’s stick to make it 2-1 in the 52nd minute.
China strung together an exhilarating two-man move in the 57th minute which saw one-two exchanges between Meng Lizhi and Song Yi allowing the later scoring with a blistering hit past Adeel.
Akhtar received yellow by Kang after he touched the ball despite the whistle for a foul in the 60th minute.
Tuesday will a rest day. The tourists play Pakistan senior team on July 16 at UBL Sports Complex at 4.00pm.
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