Pakistan held arch-rivals India to a 2-2 draw in a pulsating match of the first edition of the FIH Hockey5s in Lausanne, Switzerland on Saturday.
According to information shared by Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), India opened the scoring within the first minute of the game through Mohammed Raheel. The lead didn’t last long as Pakistan hit back six minutes later, thanks to Liaqat Arshad who scored via a deflection. Both sides had chances but the match remained all square till the halftime.
Pakistan started on the front foot in the second half but the Indian defense stood firm and thwarted multiple attacks. Against the run of play India once again took the lead, scoring through Gursahibjit Singh. Pakistan leveled the match with merely seconds remaining as Abdul Rehman deflected a cross from the right flank.
Earlier, Pakistan registered a convincing 4-2 win against Poland in their opening match of the tournament. Pakistan opened the scoring through a third-minute goal from Murtaza Muhammad. The lead lasted just two minutes as Poland hit back through Rutkowski Wojciech.
Pakistan took the match away from Poland through a quick-fired hat trick from Abuzar who scored in the sixth, 12th, and 14th minutes. Poland grabbed a consolation goal late on through Pawlak Robert to make it 4-2.
Pakistan is scheduled to play two matches on Sunday. In the first match, they will lock horns with Switzerland, while they will face Malaysia in the second match. The final will also be played on Sunday at the close of the round-robin stage.
