Pakistan beat China to secure first win in Asian Champions Trophy

The Pakistan hockey team on Monday secured their first win in the Asian Champions Trophy after they thrashed China 2-1 in their fourth match of the ongoing tournament in Chennai.

In a must-win game, Pakistani boys showed great potential by tackling an early charge by China in the first quarter which remained goalless.

In the 20th minute, Pakistan's Sufiyan Khan made the most of a penalty corner and struck the first goal of the match.

China found their feet back in the game after Jiesheng Gao scored at the start of the third quarter. He netted the ball in the 33rd minute to equal the scoreline.

Six minutes later, Afraz struck another goal for Pakistan, making the scoreline 2-1.

Thereafter, no other goal was scored till the end and Pakistan registered their first win in the tournament.

Pakistan will now meet arch-rivals India in their last match on August 9. If they win that match, they will qualify for the semi-finals.

A day earlier, Pakistan drew 3-3 against Japan in an epic six-goal stunner.

The thrilling encounter was about to end in the favour of Japan but Pakistan — showing their never giving up spirit — equalised in the last minutes.

Abdul Rana gave Pakistan a bright start by scoring in the 9th minute but their lead did not last long as the Japanese equalized when Seren Tanaka sent the ball into the goal.

Pakistan once again got the lead in the second quarter with Mohammad Sufyan Khan sending the ball to the back of the net through the Japanese keeper’s legs.

The first half ended with Pakistan leading 2-1.

However, in the third quarter, Japan once again equalized with a brilliant counter-attack as Takuma Niwa ran through the ground and passed it to Kato who had the simple job of just putting the ball into the net.

Japan scored one more just before the conclusion of the third quarter with Masaki Ohashi scoring from the rebound.

It looked all over for Pakistan but Sufyan Khan equalized for Pakistan with just five minutes left to play making it 3-3.

Earlier, Pakistan drew 1-1 against Korea and lost 3-1 to Malaysia.

Pakistan and India have won the Asian Champions Trophy thrice each, which makes them the most successful teams in the event.

Korea won the title in 2021 after beating Japan on penalties in the final in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

All six teams will each play five matches in the round-robin stage with the top four set to qualify for the semi-finals. The last four matches will be held on August 11, with the final on the next day.