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Pakistan slaughter India 6-1
The huge loss virtually killed India's hopes of playing in the final of the tournament that also features Germany and Holland
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:04 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Amsterdam :
Pakistan toyed with a hapless Indian defense to inflict a humiliating 6-1 defeat on their arch-rivals in a crucial league match of the four-nation Rabobank hockey tournament. The huge loss virtually killed India's hopes of playing in the final of the tournament that also features Germany and Holland. The one-sided contest, which India needed to win to keep alive their hopes for a berth in the final, saw Pakistan scoring three goals in each halves. Shakeel Abbasi, Sohail Abbas, Shabbir Hussain, Kashif Jawwad and Nadeem Khan scored the winners while India's lone goal came through Deepak Thakur three minutes before the half time. This was India's second loss in the tournament following their 2-0 defeat against Holland. If Pakistan played a disciplined game, the Indians were culprit of a sloppy show. They often struggled for ball possession and hardly made any organized moves during the entire duration of the match. Lack of discipline The Indians rarely posed any threat to the opposition post with most of the forwards including veteran Dhanraj Pillay failing to match their counterparts in speed and ball control. A shoddy display by the Indians in the first half saw them concede three goals, mainly due to some poor defense work particularly by Kanwalpreet Singh. The eight-time Olympic winners started the high-profile game with two of their most senior players -- Dhanraj Pillay and Baljit Singh -- but both failed to rise to the occasion that did no good to the side's cause. The goof-ups in the Indian deep defense helped Pakistan strike thrice to take complete control of the match in the first half itself even though India reduced the margin with an opportunistic goal in the 32nd minute through Thakur. Pinned down Pakistan had to wait till the 28th minute to extend their lead when Sohail Abbas slammed home from the only penalty corner that the side got in the first half. Even though Thakur's goal raised hopes of an Indian fight back, Pakistan dealt a major blow when Shabbir Hussain gave his team a 3-1 lead just before the half-time hooter. Sohail scored his second goal from another penalty corner in the 43rd minute and eight minutes later Jawwad made it 5-1. Nadeem's goal six minutes before the end sealed the fate of the Indians. (PTI)Topics mentioned in this article
Hockey
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