MUSCAT: Pakistan began their bid to qualify for a first Olympics in 12 years with a dispiriting 6-1 reverse against Great Britain on Monday.

The three-time Olympic champions have failed to qualify for the last two editions of the Games and their hopes of reaching Paris next year suffered a body blow after being overrun by the British in their Pool ‘A’ opener of the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers.

Shahnaz Sheikh’s men fell behind in the 10th minute at the Oman Hockey Stadium with Jack Waller converting a penalty corner.

Britain doubled their advantage two minutes before half-time with Sam Ward scoring a field goal.

Ward got his second and Britain’s third on 41st minutes; this time capitalising on a penalty corner before Will Calnan made it 4-0 with a field goal two minutes later.

Abdul Hannan Shahid pulled a goal back for Pakistan with 10 minutes to go but England took little time in restoring their four-goal advantage with Zachary Wallace converting a penalty stroke in the 52nd minute before Nicholas Bandurak completed the rout with a field goal five minutes later.

Pakistan have little time to regroup with their next game coming against China on Tuesday.

China opened Pool ‘A’ with a last-gasp 3-2 win over Malaysia earlier on Monday with Jiesheng Gao converting a penalty corner in the final minute of the game.

Malaysia had taken the lead through Abu Kamal Azrai’s field goal in the 29th but China hit back with two goals in the space of three minutes; Changliang Lin scoring from a penalty stroke in the 31st and Jieming Chao adding a field goal to give his side the lead.

Razie Rahim pulled Malaysia level with a drag-flick in the 47th only for Gao to snatch the points for China later on.

The top two finishers from the two four-team groups advance to the semi-finals.

The top three finishers at the qualifying tournament are guaranteed a spot at next year’s Paris Games.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2024