Malaysia was responsible for the first major upset at the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. On the first day of play in the men's competition, the Malaysian team kept favorite Pakistan to a 1-1 draw. In earlier Monday action, India defeated Bangladesh 6-0, China was stronger than Oman (6-1) and Taipei won against Hong Kong (1-0).
For Pakistan, the 1-1 draw against outsider Malaysia was not the expected start of the Asian Games. The Pakistani team knows that the first two teams of this event will qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games. With this in mind, Pakistan started very nervous and just secured the 1-1 draw with less than two minutes to play.
The damage for Pakistan could have been worse, as from halfway the second half, Malaysia was leading. Malaysian captain Kuhan Shanmuganathan opened the score from a penalty corner.
Pakistan was looking desperately for a goal and with less than one minute on the clock Mohammad Zubair saved his team from being defeated (1-1). This result was the first major upset at the Asian Games.
India started the Asian Games extremely well, winning 6-0 against Bangladesh. For India, the Asian Games are extremely important, as two Olympic tickets are at stake. The Indian team is together with Korea and Pakistan the favorite for these two spots, but Japan is a dangerous outsider.
Captain Dilip Tirkey (one of the players voted on the 2006 WorldHockey All Star Team) made his first goal already after three minutes of play. After making two more, Tirkey was responsible for the second hat trick of the tournament and he finally scored 50 percent of the goals in the match won by India 6-0.
ÔÇÿKorea is going to be the tough opponent in the pool, but my players are determined to do well,' Indian coach Bhaskaran stated. ÔÇÿPeople want to see Pakistan and India play at the Olympic Games and the Asian Games is the good platform to achieve this goal.'
The hockey tournament at the Asian Games continues on Tuesday with three more matches in the women's tournament and two matches in the men's event. Men's favorite Korea will play its first Asian Games match when the BDO World Cup semifinalist will meet Bangladesh.
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