India scrape into title round

Rajpal Singhs men hold Pakistan 2-2; both teams meet again in Sundays final

While the 2-2 draw was enough to give Pakistan a berth in the final, India’s passage came only because Malaysia came from the dead to beat Japan 3-2 in their last league game. Malaysia was required to get the better of Japan to help India reach the final.

Unbeaten in the tournament, India dominated the barren first half but conceded two goals in two minutes to trail 0-2 by the 42nd minute only to come from behind to draw the match under chilly and windy conditions.

Pakistan took a 2-0 lead through Muhammad Waqas (40th minute) and Muhammad Irfan (42nd) but India responded immediately with Rupinder (46th) finding the target from an indirect penalty corner while Danish Mujtaba scored the equaliser in the 53rd minute.

Pakistan on 10 points and India with 9 points will battle for supremacy in the final on Sunday. Japan and Malaysia will now again play for the 3rd/4th position as they finished on an identical seven points.

Korea will play China for the 5th/6th position. Korea has seven points but an inferior goal difference (-1) pushed them down the table. The India-Pakistan clash turned out to be a thriller as both teams played their hearts out.

Mujtaba’s equaliser, a deflection from his stick, was a tad controversial as New Zealand umpire Simon Taylor did not initially award a goal. But the Indians appealed and the South Korean umpire, after consultations with Taylor, awarded the goal.

Slowly India increased the tempo as the right flank stretched the Pakistan defence creating openings in the centre.  Once captain Rajpal Singh sped down the right flank but Yuvraj Walmiki and Sunil stood together and could not pick up the cross that beat the Pakistan goalkeeper Imran Shah.

The Indian midfield was outstanding except a few errors that came under pressure. Ravi Pal and especially Gurbaj Singh were the players who kept the Pakistan defence under pressure.

India’s penalty corner weakness was again exposed when they had two in succession in the 20th and 21st minutes but both were way off target.  At the break, both the teams were locked goalless.

Five minutes after resumption, Waseem Ahmed intercepted an Indian move and won an infringement just outside the Indian striking circle. His cross into the circle went straight to an unmarked Muhammad Waqas. The Pakistan striker had enough time to send in a first timer that beat Indian goalkeeper Chhetri.

Two minutes later, Shakeel Abassi and a host of Pakistan forwards moved in and won Pakistan’s first penalty corner. Muhammad Irfan sent a flyer into the right corner of the net to notch up Pakistan’s second goal.

India fought back as Sunil and Mujtaba sped into the Pakistan striking circle and won their third penalty corner of the match. It seemed doomed to fail when Ignace Tirkey could not to stop the ball cleanly but he had enough presence of mind to tap it to Mujtaba who sent a perfect cross for Rupinder to strike the ball into the Pakistan goal.

India had an opening in the 53rd minute when Manjit Kullu sent a full-blooded cross into the Pakistan striking circle. Danish Mujtaba with his back to the Pakistan goal touched it with his stick and it sped into the Pakistan goal.

The Indians celebrated but to their dismay the Kiwi umpire Simon Taylor pointed for a free hit to Pakistan. The Indian players immediately protested with Mujtaba saying he had deflected the ball in. Simon went to the Korean umpire You Su Long and checked with him and after a minute of consultation awarded the goal to India.