Pakistan beat South Korea 4-2

IPOH: Pakistan scored a stunning come-from-behind 4-2 win over South Korea to lead the standings in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium here yesterday.

The Pakistanis trailed the Koreans twice, but three goals in seven minutes gave them an emphatic win that sees them lead the standings with six points. On Thursday, Pakistan had also defeated New Zealand 4-2.

Yesterday, former champions South Korea took the lead through a Hyun Hya-sung penalty corner goal in the 13th minute.

Rehan Butt scored the first goal for Pakistan in the 21st minute. However, a defensive mistake by the Koreans allowed Mohamed Zubair to pick up the ball and relay it to Rehan Butt, whose reverse stick hit sailed through the pads of goalkeeper Lee Myung-ho in the 21st minute. But the Koreans went ahead again in the 48th minute when Hya-sung scored his second goal from a set piece move.

Again the Pakistanis hit back, with Sohail Abbas finding the net off a penalty corner move in the 63rd minute. A minute later Pakistan found themselves ahead for the first time, thanks to Abdul Haseem Khan’s field goal.

Pakistan then made sure of victory when Waqas Akbar scored the fourth goal for the Asian champions in the 70th minute.

Pakistan manager K.M. Junaid was pleased with his team’s fight back, saying it augured well for his side.

“I am pleased with the way they played. And they were focused for the full 70 minutes.

“We are not known to play well for the whole match ... we have lost crucial matches at the last minute,” said Junaid.

“To score three goals in seven minutes is a good effort and it speaks volumes of their mental strength.”

In the second match, India bounced back from their first day loss to cruise past Britain 3-1.

India, who lost 2-3 to South Korea on Thursday, were 3-0 up before Britain managed to get a goal back.

India seem to have found a new penalty corner striker in 23-year-old Rupindserpal Singh, who notched the first hat-trick of the tournament with goals in the 10th, 55th and 57th minutes.

Britain, who beat Malaysia 3-1 on Thursday, pulled one back through James Tindall.