Pakistan Clinches a Dramatic Last Minute Draw Against South Africa in Commonwealth Games Hockey

The opening match of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) between Pakistan and South Africa hockey teams resulted in a 2-2 draw on Saturday.

As per the details, Afraz’s last-minute equalizer enabled Pakistan to avert a defeat in Birmingham.

In the first quarter of the match, Conor Beauchamp of South Africa earned his team a lead through a penalty corner, however, it was soon countered by Rizwan Ali who scored a penalty corner goal in the second quarter of the match and put Pakistan back in the race.

Furthermore, both teams created many chances, yet the third quarter ended without a goal.

Eventually, South Africa took the lead once again in the fourth quarter, when Matthew Guise-Brown converted a penalty stroke into a goal in the dying minutes of the game.

On the other hand, Pakistan’s Afraz guaranteed that Pakistan leveled the match at 2-2 with a last-minute volley.

Speaking at the press conference, Pakistan’s team captain, Umar Bhutta said, “We played a good match against South Africa,” and added, “We will go all out against New Zealand and try to qualify for the semi-finals”.

Whereas, Pakistan’s coach, Siegfried Aikman, is expecting a better performance in the remaining matches of the tournament.

He stated, “We will try to not repeat the mistake we made against South Africa in tomorrow’s match,” and added, “Our dribbling is good but we couldn’t earn enough penalty corners”.

Pakistan Hockey Team’s Schedule

As of the remaining matches, Pakistan’s next game is scheduled against New Zealand. Whereas on 3 August, it will go against Scotland, and on 4 August, it will face Australia.

Pakistan’s Past Performance in CWG

Note here that Pakistan has never brought home a gold medal from the Commonwealth Games.

Their finest performance in the tournament was in 2006 in Melbourne, when they grabbed a silver medal.

In addition to that, they also managed to earn a bronze back in the 2002 edition of CWG in Manchester

Division of Teams in the CWG

With ten teams divided into two groups, Pakistan is grouped in ‘Pool A’ with Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Scotland. Meanwhile, the top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.