China stun Pakistan to reach final

ISLAMABAD: China stunned Pakistan 2-0 in the shootout to enter the final of the Hero Asian Champions Trophy at the Moqi Hockey Training Base in Hulunbuir, China.

This is the first time in the history of the tournament that the Chinese national team has made it to the title round. Pakistan will play for the bronze medal against Korea. China will take on India who defeated Korea 4-1 in the other semi-final.

In a major upset of the tournament, Chinese goalkeeper Caiyu Wang was outstanding in his efforts to keep a clean slate in the shootout, while, Benhai Chen and Chanliang Lin scored for China.

The first semifinal of the day truly lived up to its billing with China posing a mega threat to Pakistan’s hopes of making the final right from the start. They were gritty in their pursuit, dominated the ball possession and created early chances. China were buoyed by the support from the home crowd, who turned up in large numbers as it was a government holiday.

After a 0-0 stalemate in the opening quarter, China scored in the 18th minute through Yuanlin Lu’s powerful drag flick to convert from the PC. The 1-0 lead for China put Pakistan on the back foot. China also came up with brilliant defending in the second quarter to stop Pakistan from scoring a PC. They had created as many as five PCs this quarter but could not breach the Chinese defence.

Ahead of the start of the match, China Head Coach Jin Seung Yoo, who was a former player for Korea, said, “It’s an important game for us and we are totally charged up. This is the first time China is playing in the semifinal of such a prestigious event in front of the home crowd. Tahir Zaman, the Head Coach of Pakistan, and I have played quite a lot against each other (when Seung played for Korea) including the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Pakistan used to crush us (Korea) in the matches.”

China punctured Pakistan’s attack and kept the pressure on through tactful defending. Though Pakistan mustered a goal in the 37th minute through Ahmed Nadeem, China ensured they didn’t concede another goal.

China played a disciplined game, tackled Pakistani attackers with strong man-to-man marking to ensure they didn’t create scoring opportunities. Though Pakistan made a handful of circle entries in the following minutes in the third and the fourth quarters, China restricted their shots on goal quite effectively to keep the score-line 1-1.

Yuanlin Lu of China said, “We prepared for this match with great enthusiasm. We discussed strategies in small batches before we finally got together as a team and prepared for the match against Pakistan. It also helped that we had played a few test matches against Pakistan just before this tournament. We had won against them in some of those matches, so we were quite upbeat.”

In the second semifinal, India secured their place in the final with a commanding 4-1 victory over Korea. Playing with flair and aggression, India overwhelmed their opponents at the Moqi Hockey Training Base.

Uttam Singh (13’) opened the scoring for India, followed by captain Harmanpreet Singh (19’, 45+’), who converted penalty corners with his trademark drag-flicks, and Jarmanpreet Singh (32’) who added a spectacular goal to ensure India’s dominance. Korea’s Jihun Yang (33’) pulled one back, but India’s defense and clinical attack proved too strong for the Koreans.