KUALA LUMPUR: Pakistan netball team, displaying a high class game, took hosts Malaysia twice into extra time before going down 35-34 in the final to bag a silver medal at the 1st Asian Men’s Netball Championship 2016 held at Dewan Serbaguna Complex.

Pakistan, who defeated arch-rivals India in a nail-biting contest in the pre-finals a day before, started aggressively and finished the first quarter at 11-6 against Malaysia.

In the second quarter the match was level at 16-16 goals. However, in the third quarter, Malaysia managed to take a slim two-point lead to finish at 26-24 goals. The final then stood at 31-31, so five extra minutes were awarded to both teams.

At the end of the extra time, both teams were at par again and a further five minutes were awarded in which Malaysia won the thrilling match by 35-34 goals to clinch the gold medal.

The third position match was played between India and Brunei which India won 61-23.

Published in Dawn December 14th, 2016