Australia & Pakistan continue good form in Azlan Shah

Australia sit at the top of the table in the 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup tournament, which is currently taking place in Ipoh, Malaysia. The Kookaburras recorded a 4-2 win over Korea to move ahead of Great Britain in the table. Pakistan also continued their good form with a 3-1 win over fierce rivals India, leapfrogging their opponents into third place. New Zealand also found form, defeating Malaysia 3-2 to collect their first win of the tournament. More information can be found below.

Pakistan 3, India 1:

It was not a classic, but Pakistan did enough to defeat arch-rivals India 3-1 at the Azlan Shah Cup tournament in Ipoh tonight.

The win gave Pakistan nine points from five matches and they moved ahead of India in the standings.

It was all Pakistan in the second half as India was hardly in the game despite taking the lead at halftime. And had the Pakistani forwards been sharper, India would have been handed a much heavier defeat.

Rupinder Pal Singh sent a flick high into the Pakistani net in the 21st minute, giving India a 1-0 lead and taking his personal tally in the tournament to six goals.

However, an equalizer came in the 49th minute as Fareed Ahmad worked his way into the semi circle from the left, relayed the ball to Muhd Umar Bhutta who had his back to the Indian goal but took a shot on the turn to score.

And when Pakistan were awarded a penalty corner in the 56th minute, no thanks to Rupinder Pal who failed to stop the ball and hit its foot, there was anticipation in the stands that Sohail Abbas will score.

But up stepped skipper Muhammad Imran who sent a waist high drag flick sailing into goal to put Pakistan 2-1 ahead.

India were shattered and in the next minute conceded another penalty corner, which Sohail dispatched to put them 3-1 ahead.

It was Pakistan who finished the match stronger and despite forcing two more penalty corners, they failed to add to their advantage.

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Australia 4, Korea 2:

Australia defeated South Korea 4-2 in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup match to move to the top of the standings.

With the win, the Aussies have 10 points and move above Great Britain who did not see action today.

Australia took the lead in the 8th minute via Timothy Deavin. And they doubled the advantage in the 12th minute when Mark Paterson scored.

Korea reduced the deficit through a goal by You Hyo Sik in the 15th minute and should have leveled the scores had not Andrew Charter in the Australian goal pulled off a spectacular save from Yoon Sung Hoon in the 27th minute.

And Australia took full advantage of the reprieve by scoring the third via Glenn Turner in the 34th minute for Australia to go into halftime 3-1 ahead.

The Koreans were undeterred and came out fast off the blocks in the second half. And they reduced the deficit to 2-3 in the 39th minute through Hyun Hye Sung who sent the ball through Charter's pads.

Australia would have scored their fourth had it not been for the quick reflexes of Korean keeper Lee Myung Ho in the 59th minute as he stopped the penalty corner attempt of Christoper Ciriello.

Though the rebound fell to Ciriello, Lee got up fast to deny him and the third attempt was made by Paterson saw Lee pulling off another fine save.

Paterson made it safe for Australia, scoring the fourth goal in the three minutes from time.

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New Zealand 3, Malaysia 2:

Malaysia conceded a goal in the final 17 seconds of the match against New Zealand and it has virtually killed off their chance of achieving the top for target in the Azlan Shah Cup.

It was indeed a bitter pill for the Malaysian team who looked good enough to get a draw.

New Zealand broke the deadlock when they were awarded a penalty corner in the 16th minute. The shot on goal by Andrew Hayward was neatly deflected past Roslan by Nicholas Wilson.

Malaysia showed lack of urgency and was playing at a rather slow pace. But off a fine move by Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin in the 30th minute, the ball was laid up for Mohd Izzat Mohd Rahim, whose shot sailed past Stephen Graham in goal.

New Zealand earned two penalty corners in the 40th and 46th minutes but failed to find the net.

Shay Neal worked himself into the semi circle and sent in a cross at the far post in the 48th minute but Nicholas Wilson sent his attempt inches wide.

The constant Kiwi pressure finally paid dividends in the 57th minute when Hugo Inglis made a square pass to Stephen Jenness who deflected past Roslan with four other Malaysian defenders just rooted.

Malaysia found the equalizer off their first penalty corner in the 68th minute when Faisal Saari's drag flick sailed into the Kiwi goal.

Then came the killer blow as Izzat conceded an unnecessary corner and Steven Edwards finished off the penalty corner to give the Kiwis the three valuable points.

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