The Pakistan men's team continued their winning streak defeating Asian Silver Medalist China 3-1 in the third test at Changzhou. Pakistan leads 2-1 in five Test match series.
Pakistan showed excellence particularly in the first half. Pivot Muhammad Saqlain fed a superb pass to striker Waqas Sharif in the 11th minute and the nimble-footed forward sped with the ball from the centre with the Chinese defenders in hot pursuit. With the keeper at his mercy Waqas fired in with dead accuracy to put his in front.
Pakistan continued with relentless forays and in the process of unsettling the Chinese defense broke through again in the 26th minute. A brilliant move from the midfield enabled forward Shakeel Abbasi to weave through scoring Pakistan's second goal with well placed low shot. Pakistan led 2-0 at half time.
Complacency and unnecessary delay within their own area in the second period, spurred the Chinese who counter-attacked with dangerous moves. Yet Pakistan defense with that immaculate custodian Salman Akbar succeeded in thwarting the Chinese attempts. After scuttling the Chinese onslaught for a quarter of an hour, Pakistan came back in the game and succeeded in stretching the lead in the 42nd minute. A brilliant move from the right flank allowed right winger Waqas Sharif to scythe through the Chinese defense and his baseline back pass was well connected by spearhead Shakeel Abbasi-his second goal of the match. China reduced the margin from a penalty corner conversion at the closing stages of the match.
ÔÇ£We would have scored more goals had we kept our consistency, ÔÇ£Chief Coach Khwaja Zakauddin said after the match and added ÔÇ£After taking a comfortable 2-0 lead they should have gone for the kill but somehow there was some complacency within the outfit.ÔÇØ
Chief Coach was, however, satisfied with the performance saying, ÔÇ£We played excellent and thus outclassed the Chinese.ÔÇØ Zaka praised the performance of goalkeeper Salman Akbar with the remark, ÔÇ£At difficult situations Salman really brought off some magnificent saves.ÔÇØ
Source: PHF
