PAK vs IND in 8-Match Hockey Series

[Sam]

Pakistan down India

Pakistan defeated India 2-1 in the first game of an eight match series at the Hockey Club of Pakistan stadium here Friday.
Sohail Abbas scored off a penalty corner while forward Rehan Butt netted a field goal for Pakistan. India's goal came off a penalty corner rebound through Arjun Halappa.

The series comes after a gap of five years amid a thaw in relations between the two South Asian rivals.

Four matches will be played in the first leg in Pakistan followed by another four in India.

India badly missed the experience of sacked stars Dhanraj Pillay and Baljeet Dhillon. Two other Indian hockey stars, Gagan Ajit Singh and Prabhjot Singh both have also missed the Pakistan leg due to injuries.

The visitors put up a resolute challenge as promised by their German coach Gerhard Rach against the scrappy Pakistanis and took the lead early in the third minute.

Through a slick move from the right India won their first penalty corner and from a rebound off skipper Dilip Tirkey's strike Arjun Halappa put the ball in the cage.

Pakistan hit back with their first penalty corner and Abbas scooped to the top of the cage for Pakistan's equaliser in the 17th minute much to the joy of the 5,000-strong crowd.

Abbas took his tally of goals to 262 in 211 international matches, six short of beating the all time record held by Holland's Paul Litjens, who scored 267.

Rehan Butt, famous for scoring against India, latched on to a brilliant pass from the right by Adnan Zakir to put Pakistan into the lead in the 26th minute.

India threatened an equaliser throughout the second half but missed several good chances while Pakistan's four penalty corners were well saved by Indian goal-keeper Adrian D'Souza.

"We are a young side but I am happy that the boys put up a brilliant fight to restrict Pakistan to 2-1," said Indian captain Dilip Tirkey.

Pakistan's Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans was not concerned over the narrow win.

"We are trying some youngsters who will take some time to adjust and that's why we didn't score many goals," Oltmans said.

Six hockey series between India and Pakistan were played between 1978 and 1988 -- two of them in the Gulf. After another lay-off, two more series on a home and away basis were played in 1998 and 1999 before political tensions put the event on hold. Of the eight series played already, Pakistan has won five and India two while one was drawn.

Pakistan has won all six matches against India this year, including a 3-0 victory in Athens Olympics.

The remaining matches in Pakistan are scheduled for Quetta (Sept 27), Peshawar (Sept 29) and Lahore (Oct 1).

India will host matches in New Delhi (Oct 4), Chandigarh (Oct 6), Amritsar (Oct 8) and Hyderabad (Oct 10).

Source: http://thedailystar.net/2004/09/26/d40926040631.htm

Edited on, September 25, 2004, 9:17 PM GMT, by Sam.

[Zunaid]

Sam bhai - please make sure you are posting to the appropriate topics. I am moving this to other sports.

[Sam]

Thanks, Zunaid
I will take care in future.

Edited on, September 25, 2004, 9:14 PM GMT, by Sam.

[bourny3]

8 match series. thats a lot. i play hockey its awesome does anyone else play hockey.

[Sam]

Pakistan is leading the series by 2-1 after 4 matches. The last match was a 4-4 draw. Next four matches will be played in India.

[Sam]

Pakistan has bagged another win in New Delhi, leading the series by 3-1.

Sohail Abbas equalled the field hockey world record for international goals as he scored off a penalty-corner in the first-half and converted a penalty stroke in the second to equal Dutch legend Paul Litjens' record of 267 goals.
Well Done.

[Shehwar]

It was alwayz on the cards....I expect Pakistan to win at least two more matches....tc ppl...Well done Sohail !!!

[bourny3]

Well done Sohail. That is a fenominal amount of goals well done

[Sultanzz]

Abbas sets mark as Pakistan win

NEW DELHI: Penalty-corner specialist Sohail Abbas equalled the field hockey world record for international goals as he starred in Pakistan's 3-1 win over India in the fifth match of an eight-match series here yesterday.

Abbas scored off a penalty-corner in the first-half and converted a penalty stroke in the second to equal Dutch legend Paul Litjens record of 267 goals as Pakistan took a 3-1 lead in the series.

Forward Kashif Jawad struck the other goal for the winners while Sandeep Michael shot in for India, who trailed 2-0 at half-time.

Michael's deflection off a hit-in from captain Dilip Tirkey early in the second session gave India hope but Abbas sealed the fate of the match by scoring off the 'stroke' a little later.

The 'stroke' was awarded after Tirkey was hit on the face while defending a penalty-corner and had to be stretchered off the ground.

Abbas was happy to equal the record but said he still had a long way to go.

India did launch quite a few attacks in the second session but looked a disjointed lot in the first.

They conceded an early goal when centre-forward Jawad found the mark with a first-timer in the fifth minute after Dilawar Hussain cut past a couple of defenders and put him in possession.

India struggled to create moves even as Pakistan increased the lead in the 28th minute when Abbas converted his team's third penalty-corner in the 28th minute.

Michael failed to latch on to a long pass from Hari Prasad on the left flank in the best chance that India had in the first session, in which they gained just one penalty-corner.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story...&IssueID=27199

[Sam]

Pakistan held a spirited Indian side to a 1-1 draw in the sixth match of an eight-Test field hockey series here on Wednesday.

[Sam]

Ultimately, Pakistan took a decisive 4-1 lead after winning the 7th match by 2-1 in Amritsar.
Pakistan's Sohail Abbas scored a goal from a corner shot and has created a new world record of 268 international goals in Field Hockey.
Congratulations Sohail

[bourny3]

Wow unbeleivable Sohail well done.

[Sultanzz]

Abbas sets world record as Pakistan clinch hockey series

Fri Oct 8, 8:30 AM ET South Asia - AFP

AMRITSAR, India (AFP) - Penalty-corner specialist Sohail Abbas became the highest international goal-scorer in field hockey history as Pakistan beat India 2-1 to clinch the eight-match series.

Abbas, who was tied with Dutch legend Paul Litjkens on 267 goals before the match, converted Pakistan's first penalty corner in the 10th minute to set the new mark as Pakistan took a decisive 4-1 lead in the seventh game on Friday.

His rasping strike hit a defender's stick and seemed to go over the post but the umpires awarded a goal after an appeal from the Pakistan players, who showed them a hole in the goal netting.

Rehan Butt was the other marksman for Pakistan while Arjun Halappa converted a penalty stroke for India to reduce the margin.

"It is a very proud moment for our team as well as his friends and relatives back home," captain Waseem Ahmed said after Abbas took his tally to 268. "He has served Pakistan very well over the years."

Pakistan increased the lead in the 50th minute when an unmarked Butt came up with a superb reverse-flick from the top of the circle.

The forward, who takes the push during penalty-corners, had come close to scoring a little earlier when he hit the post in an indirect variation of a penalty-corner.

For the home side, Halappa, who converted a 'stroke' in the 53rd minute, played well up front to create two good chances for India in the first session.

Indian forwards failed to come in line of a cross from Halappa on the right flank with the defenders out of position, while Ignace Tirkey's reverse-flick went wide after a move from Halappa down the centre.

"We deserved to win this match as we played better from the beginning. India were not too bad but we managed to dominate. It's a great feeling to win the series and the whole team needs to be congratulated," Waseem said.

The last match of the series, played in two legs of four matches each in Pakistan and India, will be held under floodlights on Sunday in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...k_041008123025

Edited on, October 10, 2004, 12:22 AM GMT, by Sultanzz.

[Sam]

India scored a consolation 2-0 victory over Pakistan in the final match of an eight-Test series on Sunday.
Sandeep Michael and Tushar Khandekar slammed in the goals as India reduced the margin to 4-2.

[Shehwar]

Well..looking at both the sides before the series one wud have imagined atleast a 6-2 series scoreline in Pakistan's favour....Specially since they have been so dominant over India this year & considering the fact that India fielded a young side....I reckon at the end of the series looking at the result India will be the happier of the two sides....

[cricketfan]

Considering the mess Indian Hockey finds itself in at the moment, the series scoreline is quite flattering for India.

[Tintin]

True. Before the series started, I would have considered 4-2 a decent result.

But after India's 4-1 win in the second match of the series, the series result doesn't look that good.

[bourny3]

Well done to pakistan for winning the series. I dont understand why India is so poor at hockey now. They used to be great.