KARACHI, June 29: Pakistan overcame a first-half scare to post a 3-1 victory over minnows Belgium in the Junior World Cup hockey opening match at Rotterdam, the Netherlands on Wednesday.

According to information available here, Belgians gave green shirts a rude shock when they slammed home through captain Mike Dewever with the game just three minutes old. Dewever was temporarily suspended in the 24th minute.

Pakistan’s penalty corner expert Mohammad Imran equalised in the 28th minute, while a minute before halftime Pakistan were reduced to ten players after Tariq Aziz was shown a yellow card.

Mohammad Imran again came into action in the 64th minute, while Mohammad Arif completed the tally four minutes before time.

In other matches of the day, Australia crushed Chile 12-0, while South Korea handed Mexico a 11-0 drubbing.