April 07, 2018
Pakistan leveled against traditional rival India 2-2 in the last minute of their thrilling hockey match at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia on Saturday.
Dilpreet Singh and Harmanpreet Singh scored for India during half-time. In the third quarter, Irfan Jr brought Pakistan one up while Ali Mubashar scored a last-minute penalty to rescue his team from what looked to be a certain defeat.
India dominated the first quarter, with Pakistan also having a shot which hit the crossbar. India's Dilpreet Singh scored the opening goal of the match with just 40 seconds left in the first quarter.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Pakistan saw themselves a man short as Muhammad Atiq was shown a yellow card, bringing the odds in favour of India.
Harmanpreet Singh scored India's second goal, bringing the lead to 2-0.
Plenty of drama unfolded as Akashdeep Singh and Muhammad Faisal Qadir got involved in a scuffle and the referee sent the two players out of the field.
After being dominated in the first two quarters, Pakistan came back into the game with Mohammad Irfan Jr tapping the ball in after Rizwan's shot beat Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh.
With seven seconds to go before the final whistle, Pakistan got their final chance to score an equaliser after being awarded a penalty corner.
Pakistan asked for a review after the ball thwarted off the defender's foot. The referee awarded Pakistan its eighth penalty corner, which Ali Mubashar converted into a goal to draw the match 2-2.
Mahoor Shahzad gave the Pakistan badminton team some momentum winning her women’s singles match against Madushika Dilrukshi Beruwelage 21-14 and 21-18.
The Pakistan badminton team, however, lost to Sri Lanka 4-1.
Pakistan lost their opening game 5-0 to India and their second game to Scotland.
In the men’s single event against Sri Lanka, Murad Ali lost to Dinuka Karunaratna 21-18 and 21-17.
Murad Ali will next take on Sri Lanka's Buwaneka Goonethilleka on April 10, while Palwasha Bashir will take on Nicki Chan-Lam of Mauritius on the same day.
The doubles events saw the teams of Murad Ali and Muhammad Irfan Bhatti lose 21-11 and 21-14 to Buwaneka Goonethilleka and Sachin Dias.
The duo of Palwasha Bashir and Mahoor Shahzad also lost their match to Thilini Pramodika Hendahewa and Kavidi Sirimannage by 21-7 and 21-11.
The mixed doubles game was another disappointment as the team, comprising Palwasha and Irfan Bhatti, lost their third group game. They will next play Scotland in the mixed doubles event on April 10.
In the weightlifting event, Abu Sufyan, who is representing Pakistan in the 69kg category, finished 12 while Gareth Van of Wales took gold.
In the swimming event, Bisma Khan participated in the 50 metres freestyle, finishing seventh with a time of 28.75. She will also be in action on April 8, in the women’s 100 metre freestyle, and on April 9 in the 100 metres backstroke event.