Reiging champion Pakistan which suffered a shock 1-5 loss in the round-robin game to India, will be hoping to bounce back in the final. -Photo by AP

DHAKA Arch-rivals Pakistan and India come head-to-head in the final showdown for gold medal glory in the hockey event of the 11th South Asian Games at Maulana Bhashsani Stadium on Sunday.

Reiging champion Pakistan which suffered a shock 1-5 loss in the round-robin game to India, will be hoping to bounce back in the final.

It will be a tough task, however, and the 'green shirts' would need to show a lot of conviction to emerge as winners on the day.

Sibtain Raza's Pakistan team had struggled even against Sri Lanka before notching-up a 2-0 victory in the league stage.

However against India in the gold medal match they will have to put on an all-round display and will particularly need to work on their finishing as well as penalty corner conversion.

There is strong sense of excitement and anticipation among the enthusiastic Dhaka fans, who are eagerly waiting to watch the artistry and craftsmanship of the promising hockey players of India and Pakistan in the grand finale.

India is the only team in the five-team contest that has remained unbeaten in the preliminary affairs.

But Pakistan coach Muhammad Shahbaz Junior expressed the that the final will be an altogether different game. “We have done lots of home work and we want to learn from our mistakes. We are expecting a better show in the final,” he told APP.

“We are expecting our team to do well in field play and penalty corner conversion...and our defence really needs to be on its toes,” he said.

Indian coach Clarence Lobo said both sides were pretty similar and it all boiled down to who can hold their nerves on the big day.

“Anything can happen in the final. Pakistan has some good players to put up a tough challenge. We have to fight hard to win the final,” he said.

Teams

India Mrinal, Harjit (Goalkeeper), Birendra, Belsajar, Innocent, Varinder, Prabhedep, Vikash, Dharamaveer Singh, Mohammad Aamir, V. Raghunath, Ajitesh Roy (Captain), Amit Kumar, Roshan, Promod and Bikash.

Pakistan Imran Butt (Goalkeeper), Mohammad Khalid, Wasif Siddique, Zeeshan Ali, Mohsin Bilal, Aamir Shahzad, Waqas Akbar, Abdul Qayyum, Abdul Khaliq, Sabtain Raza (Captain), Naghman Ahmed, Kashif Javed, Abdul Ghaffar, Mohammad Waqas, Zubair Ahmed, Tasawar Abbas.