 Lessons hidden in the necklace of the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy
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Korea beat Pakistan by six goals to five in the semi-finals of the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy
The three-time Asian champion national hockey team lost in the semi-finals for the first time. In the semi-finals, a nerve-wracking match was played against Korea. Pakistan hockey team played very well. The match would take a new turn every moment and the result of the match would change. Sometimes Pakistan, sometimes Korea. But there was a time when Korea took a two-goal lead over Pakistan.
In difficult times, the umpire fouled the Pakistani players and showed them (yellow) cards and kicked them off the ground. Pakistan played ten players in the last quarter but did not give up. With a full back, he scored two goals in a row to level the match at five.
In the closing moments of the match, Korea got a penalty corner on which a goal took Korea to the final for the first time. Pakistan had never before reached the semi-finals of the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy. Played semi-finals five times, made it to the finals each time and won the title three times.
This is the first time Pakistan has failed in the semi-finals. The national team will face traditional rival India for the third position tomorrow. Despite the Pakistan team being away from international hockey for two years, the national team performed well in the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy.
The first match of the national team in the event was against Japan which ended in a goalless draw. This is the same Japanese team that defeated India 3-5 in the semi-finals. In the second match, India lost 1-3 but the national team fought hard. In the third match, the match against South Korea ended in a 3-3 draw. The national players also played well in this match. The national team made it to the semi-finals with a 2-6 victory over hosts Bangladesh.
Despite being away from international hockey for a long time, the national team played well. In the semi-finals, the players made some mistakes but overall the competition was very interesting. The players still showed weakness in scoring field goals. Most of the players tried to go to "D" and hit the ball on the opponent's leg and get a penalty corner.
But the skill that Sohail Abbas had to score penalty corners was not seen in the current players. The defense of the national team was also a bit weak. On several occasions the goalkeeper was the only one trying to stop the attack of the opposing team. The players standing on the defense were standing far away from the T20 line. Only one or two players were in the "D" who were dodged and scored by Korea. The current event has raised some hopes for the rise of Pakistan Hockey.
But there is still a great need for improvement in Pakistan hockey, new blood has to be added and they have to be taught to play European style hockey and not Pakistani. Hockey is rising. Burn it with new blood so that the sun of hockey can shine again