ISLAMABAD: Pakistan got off to a disastrous start in the 37th and concluding edition of the Champions Trophy Hockey as they were beaten 4-0 by India in the opening match in Breda (Netherlands) Saturday.
Pakistan team that has been training in Holland for almost three weeks now showed no improvement and got melted under repeated Indian forward line attacks.
Ramandeep Singh scored in the 26th minute to give India lead following barrage of attacks that saw Pakistan defence leaving too many gaps for Indian forwards to move. Ramandeep deflected the ball into the right corner with keeper Imran Butt having no chance of blocking the ball.
17-year old Dilpreet Singh doubles the lead drawing Imran Butt to one side to divert the ball into open goal.
As if Pakistan were playing without any defence, Indian forward unleashed barrage of attacks during the last ten minutes of the match. One such attack earned them their third goal when Mandeep Singh sliced a free ball into the net.
Just a second before the final hooter, India completed the tally scoring their fourth through Lalit Upadhyay also from field efforts.
“The defeat should be an eye opener for the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) bosses who are investing on team blindfold without judging their own abilities to manage the team and federation. It is just waste of tax payers’ money,” Khawaja Junaid former Pakistan hockey coach said.
The World Cup 1994 winning team member said that Indian team is being trained by a local coach against highly paid Dutch coach who is training Pakistan. “The PHF is just wasting money on foreign coaches and are giving them over Rs2 million per month. Look at the results conceding four goals against a team
that mostly consists of junior players should be an eye opener to those who are running the affairs.”
Junaid said that India included seven new players in the team. “Look 17-year old Dilpreet Singh scoring India’s second goal completing dodging the defence. They are looking at future and are performing. We have gone into Champions Trophy with majority of ageing players and are conceding goals like anything.”
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