Pakistan eyeing stronger show in Chennai
LAHORE: Despite arriving late in India, Pakistan are fast gaining rhythm after every match and are still eyeing the Asian Champions Trophy final, say coach Mohammad Saqlain and captain Umar Bhutta.
Talking to Dawn on Saturday from Chennai where the six-nation continental event is being held, Olympian Saqlain said lack of finishing cost Pakistan in the first two games against Malaysia and South Korea, respectively.
“Though our team is playing attacking hockey, missing several [scoring] chances caused us the 3-1 defeat against Malaysia. However, we in the next match played better against defending champions South Korea who in the end equalised in the dying stages of the match,” the 45-year-old Saqlain said.
“Against Malaysia, we should have won at least by a margin of five goals but that was not our day. We were playing our first match just one day after coming to Chennai.
“We got visas for India late and I think we should have reached Chennai some five days before the start of the event [Aug 3].”
The coach continued, “Anyway the boys are now getting settled and we are expecting a good show from them against Japan in our next match on Sunday [today].”
Saqlain insisted that his team would be a hard nut to crack in the remaining games in Chennai.
“Pakistan will be a challenging side against every team, including India; we will go all out to beat them to qualify for the semi-finals,” he said.
“To become a formidable outfit, we just need to cash in on the chances our attackers are creating. I am satisfied with our forwards who are playing their best game. I think our attack has been brilliant so far.”
Drag-flicker Arbaz Ahmad’s absence, the coach underscored, had hurt Pakistan.
“Arbaz’s unfortunate injury seriously damaged the team which has struggled in the penalty-corner department, as we failed to score on [all] 13 penalty corners [in the first two matches],” he said.
Saqlain continued, “We are also trying to score goals on penalty-corners through indirect drills, which I don’t want to disclose in India as I am seeking to implement them during the [Sept 23-Oct 8] Asian Games in Hangzhou.”
Currently, Malaysia top the table with six points after winning both their games at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium.
They are followed by India and South Korea, both of whom are joint second with four points each. The hosts, however, hold a better goal average (+5) than Korea (+1). Japan and Pakistan are fourth and fifth (one point each), respectively, with the former having a slightly better goal average (-1) than the latter (-2). China are at the bottom with no points after losing both their matches of the event which ends on Aug 12.
The top four teams from the round-robin stage qualify for the semi-finals.
While reckoning that all six teams can qualify for the final, Saqlain said Pakistan would try their best to get maximum points from the remaining three round-robin matches to advance to the semi-finals.
He noted that though hosts India were relatively higher-ranked side, fourth in world rankings, 19th ranked Japan team played a 1-1 draw against them on Friday.
“It all depends on how a team perform in the field on the given day. I think we played our best hockey against Malaysia as we have entered their circle 27 times; but we missed a number of [scoring] chances which damaged our cause,” Saqlain noted.
Commenting on the hospitality and facilities being provided to the Pakistan team in Chennai, Saqlain said they were good and people were very friendly.
The turf, he said, which had been laid at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai, was the same which would be used at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Meanwhile, Umar said the coaches had discussed with the players the mistakes they committed in the first two games during a team meeting on Saturday, and hoped Pakistan — the Asian Champions Trophy winners in 2012, 2013 and 2018 — would play their best game against Japan.
“The team reached Chennai just one day before the start of the event and it took time for us to settle. The way we played the first two matches shows we are getting rhythm and it is a good sign,” the 30-year-old said.
The 30-year-old Umar, who is the only experienced member of the squad competing in Chennai with 100-plus matches to his credit, said the Pakistan team contained several youngsters, whose average was just 10 international games.
However, the skipper said, all the teams were using the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy as part of their preparations for the Asian Games, and testing different drills.
Emphasising that the boys were getting confidence, Umar hoped they would fare well in the coming games.
“All the teams have played two matches each [so far]. Therefore, the spots for the final remain open for every opponent. Pakistan will also try to win all three [remaining] matches to remain in the contest,” the captain signed off.
Published in Dawn, Aug 6th, 2023