Commonwealth Games hockey: Pakistan rout Canada to finish 7th

GOLD COAST: Following a series of troubles it was a perfect day for Pakistan’s hockey here at the Gold Coast Hockey Centre when they recovered from 0-1 down to overwhelm Canada 3-1 to finish at the seventh place in the 21st Commonwealth Games men’s hockey competitions here on Friday.

In the seventh and eighth position encounter James Kirkpatrick put Canada in front in the first quarter. However Roelant Oltmans’ boys came back strongly, scoring twice in the third quarter through Arslan Qadir and Mubashir Ali Raza before Irfan Junior completed the rout with a nice goal towards the end of the game witnessed by a huge crowd.

It means that Pakistan got revenge from Canada for their huge 0-6 loss against the Canadians in their previous outing in the World Hockey League last summer in London.

“Yes, we took revenge of the same defeat from Canada. It was a good day for us and I am very happy that the boys worked hard to eventually find a win,” Pakistan’s skipper Mohammad Rizwan Senior told ‘The News’ after his team’s well-deserved win. Rizwan was satisfied with his team’s overall performance in the event.

“It was not a bad event for us. Since the start the team kept raising its standard and you see we also held two tough India and England in the process. I am confident that the side will further grow in the process,” Rizwan added. He credited Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans for the output.

“Oltmans’ role has been fantastic. He stayed with us for hardly a few weeks but you see how the team is progressing. Earlier we did not play under a special structure. Oltmans gave us a structure and you will see in the coming days some more improvement,” Rizwan hoped. The skipper said that Asian Games in Indonesia were their main target. “You know we are preparing for the Asian Games. It is a very important event for us as winning gold at that stage can put you straight in Olympics and that is more important,” Rizwan conceded.

Earlier, Canada had a fine start in the first quarter, putting the Pakistanis under terrific pressure through some incisive rallies from both wings.

In the seventh minute Pakistan had come very close to taking the initiative but Mohammad Dilbar could not keep a cross down from the right. Soon afterwards Canada launched a serious attack but Pakistan’s gloveman Imran Butt did a fine job to avert the danger with a diving save.

In the 11th minute Pakistan got a penalty corner but Canada’s keeper Carter David excellently dealt with Toseeq Arshad’s fine dash. In the 12th minute James Kirkpatrick provided lead to his side through an excellent field effort. At half time Canada were leading 1-0.

In the second quarter, Pakistan marshalled their troops with the top management of the team was seen shouting consistently to their brigade. Following a few unsuccessful incisive rallies, Canada inflicted a superb rally but keeper Imran Butt made a solid save. It was again 1-0 in favour of Canada at the end of the second quarter. In the third quarter Pakistan raised their game with their frontline forcing the oppositions to make mistakes in the area and it happened so when Mohammad Arslan Qadir capitalised on a solid cross to level the score 1-1 in the 34th minute. Pakistan kept the pressure in the meantime and were able to take the lead when Mubashir Ali struck one on penalty corner in the 40th minute.

After a couple of minutes Canada rallied forward but the cross from their left-out could not be intercepted by his fellow striker. Pakistan finished the third quarter with a 2-1 lead.Just after the start of the fourth quarter Imran Butt denied Canada a goal through an acrobatic work. In the following few minutes both sides tried their best to strike but it were again Pakistan which struck through Mohammad Irfan Junior who managed it through a crowded defence in the 57th minute.

Pakistan’s coach Roelant Oltmans seemed happy over what his charges achieved in their last game of the ten-nation tournament which will complete on Saturday (today).“Yes, finally we won,” a smiling Oltmans told ‘The News’ after the match. “You know there is room for improvement in every game and today the team played quite good. In the first quarter Canada had been brilliant as they dominated everything. But the way we came back was fine. Although there were some mistakes by the boys but overall it was a good effort. Now I am looking forward to the future,” Oltmans said.

In the event Pakistan drew their opener against little known Wales 1-1, also held both India and England to a 2-2 draw before they were held by Malaysia in their last Group B game the other day to leave them to face Group A fourth finishers Canada for the seventh and eighth position game.

Eric Koh from Malaysia and Tim Bond from New Zealand supervised the match. Jamie Hooper of Wales served as reserve umpire while David Sweetman of Scotland acted as video umpire.