Pakistan 3 Netherlands 2

South Korea 3 Australia 0

India 5 Malaysia 2

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19: Former champions Pakistan turned in a masterful first half performance to beat the Netherlands 3-2 in their opening match of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia on Monday.

Both teams provided an exciting match with play swinging from end to end, but three well-taken goals in the opening half ensured full points for the Pakistanis, who won the tournament in 1999, 2000 and 2003.

“This is a good win for us as we were ale to match the Dutch in almost all departments and also stopped them from scoring from several good attempts,”said Pakistan coach Asif Bajwa.

“Winning against one of the top sides in the world here is a good start ...We are here to win and hopefully go back with the title as well,” said the coach, pleased after his side's first victory over the Dutch in four years.

It was the losers who enjoyed better possession as the Netherlands watched several good chances frustrated by in-form Pakistani goalkeeper Salman Akbar.

The Netherlands started on the attack and had the first good look at goal when they earned a penalty corner in the fourth minute. But the flick taken by Taeke Taekema missed the target.

The Pakistanis drew first blood a minute later.

A long clearance by Ghazanfar Ali was collected by Shakeel Abbasi, who relayed to an unmarked Rehan Butt. The Pakistani forward took a hit from the top D to beat goalkeeper Klass Veering.

The Dutch, ranked third in the world, kept up with their attacks and were rewarded in the 14th minute with a field goal from Floris Evers.

But they failed to check the fifth-ranked Pakistanis, whose raids along the flanks gave them the edge.

In the 20th minute from their first penalty corner, the Pakistanis managed to find the net through Imran Warsi from an indirect attempt.

This was followed by a field goal from Shakeel in the 24th minute when he reverse hit from the top D after beating two defenders.

Roderick Weusthof reduced the Dutch deficit in the 70th minute but that was as close as it would get.

Netherlands coach Roelant Oltmans said his team had better control of the game but missed several good chances.

“I will be happy if they improve with each match,” he said.

The Netherlands will play Argentina on Tuesday and Pakistan will take on New Zealand in their second match.

South Korea sprang the biggest upset with a convincing 3-0 win over defending champions Australia.

The Australians, ranked number one in the world, paid the price for their over-confident approach and in a space of just four minutes lost the Group A match to the fitter and more mobile Koreans.

Australia refreshed their line-up by giving some young players a run but the team was let down by its inability to match the Koreans with their speed play.

Korea are ranked at number eight in the world and the win over the Australians was their first in the international arena.

The game got off to a slow start in the humid conditions, but the Koreans soon looked dangerous, and started inflicting damage from the 19th minute when they received their first penalty corner of the match.

Their flicker Jang Jong-hyun, who scored the equaliser in the 2-2 draw with Malaysia on Sunday, was again on target with a direct attempt.

Hardly had the cheers died down when the Koreans were on the attack again and in the 21st minute Kang Seong-jung followed up with a field goal taken from the top D to put them 2-0 up.

The Koreans then had another penalty corner in the 23rd minute and Jong-hyun was on target with his drag flick which had goalkeeper Daniel McPherson well beaten.

In the second half the Australians tried hard to put their structure back in place and went on the offensive. They had several good chances to score early in the second half but their forwards muffed it.

Australia coach Barry Dancer said his players were complacent and failed to play as a team when it mattered.

“Credit to the Koreans for good display. They were very good with their counter attacks and also in the penalty corners,” he said.

“We did have several chances in the second half. But I'm disappointed with the players' attitude in the match and it is certainly a concern for us at this stage,” he said.

South Korean manager Cho Sung-jun was happy with the result which he said was remarkable considering they were playing the top ranked country in the world.

“The result was a surprise to us. We have played them in friendlies many times and do know their style well. But we did not expect such a big win. We have some very young players as well so this result will spur them on to improve further.

In the other Group B match, India kept alive their hopes of a semi-final berth with a 5-2 win over Malaysia.—AFP