After exciting matches played out on day one and two at the Hero Asia Cup 2022 here at the state-of-the-art GBK Sports Arena, teams gear up for the final challenge in the group stage which will decide who makes it to the exciting Super 4s.
For now, in pool A Japan have topped the group with big wins against Indonesia 9-0 and India 5-2 whereas Pakistan is placed second following a 1-1 draw against India and a massive 13-0 win against hosts Indonesia.
Defending champions India, meanwhile, have slumped to the third position in group A having lost a match to Japan and drawn a match against Pakistan. To avoid an early exit from title contention, India will now have to win against Indonesia by a huge margin and hope Pakistan lose to Japan in their last group match tomorrow.
“If they think, we are going to lose against Japan, then they are highly mistaken. Our players are geared up for a good match against Japan,” stated Pakistan’s newly appointed Head Coach Siegfreid Aikman who minced no words in stating his intentions about tomorrow’s game.
Meanwhile, in pool B, Malaysia have topped the group with 6 points. They beat Oman 7-0 in their first match followed by a crucial 5-4 win against Korea. They are now up against Bangladesh, who are placed third, in their last pool B match whereas Korea will take on Oman on Thursday.
“We are here to win the title. We have not been able to do it in the past but we are going into every match wanting to win and we are looking forward to keeping the unbeaten record through the tournament,” stated Razie Rahim ahead of their match on Thursday.
