DHAKA: Pakistan need to win against India on Saturday if they are to reach the final of the Asia Cup.

That after Pakistan played out a 1-1 draw with South Korea in their penultimate match of the super four round at the Maulana Bhashani National Stadium here on Thursday.

Ajaz Ahmed gave Pakistan a 15th-minute lead but they wasted several chances and were punished when Namyong Lee equalised in the 48th.

India, meanwhile put one foot in the final after they hammered Malaysia 6-2 to go top of the four-team round robin with four points. Malaysia, who beat Pakistan on Wednesday, have three points ahead of South Korea (2) and Pakistan (1) going into the final round of fixtures.

To reach the final, Pakistan have to beat India by a good margin and hope South Korea and Malaysia play out a draw.

“I am extremely surprised to see how my players are wasting the scoring opportunities,” Pakistan coach Farhat Khan said after the match.

“I don’t know what is going wrong. We will go back and see the video and sit with the boys to ensure such mistakes don’t happen in our next match against India.”

Pakistan’s tactics to turn defence quickly into attack worked well for them as Ajaz opened the scoring and had the chance to extend their lead in the same minute but youngster Mohammad Atiq failed to hit the target.

Ajaz had a superb chance to double his tally in the 28th when he got clear in front of the Korean goal, but could only shoot at goalkeeper Doopyo Hong.

Another chance went a begging when captain Mohammad Irfan dragged a penalty corner wide in the 44th and Pakistan were made to pay for their profligacy when Korea were awarded a free hit on the edge of the Pakistan box and Lee scored.

Pakistan could’ve grabbed a winner late on but this time Mohammad Rizwan Sr. failed to beat the goalkeeper from close range.

Later, India maintained their unbeaten run in the tournament with a perfect display of attacking hockey as they toyed with the Malaysian defence with short passes, one-touch ball delivery to pump five beautiful field goals.

India scored five field goals through Akashdeep Singh (15th minute), S.K. Uthappa (24th), Gurjant Singh (33rd), S.V. Sunil (40th) and Sardar Singh (60th), while Harmanpreet converted a penalty corner in the 19th minute.

Malaysia’s goals came from the sticks of Razie Rahim (50th) and Ramadan Rosli (59th).

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2017