Pakistan beat New Zealand in Junior Hockey World Cup
Sports
Arshad Liaqat scored a brilliant hat-trick for Green Shirts
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (Web Desk) - With Arshad Liaqat scoring a brilliant hat-trick, Pakistan handed New Zealand a 4-0 defeat in their second match of the ongoing Junior Hockey World Cup being played in Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.
Liaqat scored three goals in the 19th, 30th and 54th minute of the match to put the Green Shirts in commanding position. Captain Abdul Hanan Shahid also scored a goal for Pakistan on a penalty corner in the 32nd minute of the match.
Placed in Pool D, Pakistan will play their final group match against Belgium on December 9. Top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals.
On Wednesday, the Pakistan hockey team had made an impressive comeback to register a 3-3 draw against the Netherlands in their opening match of the Junior World Cup.
Down 2- in the first half, Arshad Liaqat, Sufian Khan, and Arbaz Ahmed scored crucial goals for the Green Shirts to bring Pakistan back in the game.
Pakistan finished on the men’s Junior World Cup podium on each of the first five events played between 1979 and 1993, clinching gold at the inaugural event and claiming one silver and three bronze medals.
Since then, two fifth place finishes in 1997 and 2009 have been their best performance. They finished 11th at the Bhubaneswar 2021 World Cup, which was a historic low for Pakistan.
However, under the guidance of legendary Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans the team has improved performance which was evident from the silver medal they secured at the Junior Asia Cup earlier this year.
A narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of India was their only defeat of the competition, with Abdul Rehman scoring nine times to finish joint top scorer and Hannan Shahid bagging the award for player of the tournament.
The team recently finished fourth at the Sultan of Johor Cup, with penalty corner specialist Arbaz Ahmad netting four times in the competition.
