Pakistan Hockey team defeated China 2-0 in their second match in the Group stage of the Paris Olympic Qualifiers, in Muscat Oman.
The Men in Green scored two goals in the second half of the match, the third and fourth quarter of the game, which proved to be decisive in the game’s outcome.
The two decisive goals came from Pakistan’s Abu Bakkar Mehmood and Abdul Rehman, who proved to be the heroes on the day to keep Pakistan’s hopes alive in the Olympic Qualifiers. Goalkeeper Abdullah Ishtiaq also made a couple of good saves to facilitate Pakistan’s solid defence in this match.
𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞: 𝐏𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝟐 – 𝟎 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚
Pakistan score twice in the second half to win their first game at the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifier in Oman. #EnrouteToParis
📱Subscribe to the https://t.co/71D0pOpuZ8 App to stream all the games LIVE from the FIH Olympic… pic.twitter.com/4GcLF0nDBb
— International Hockey Federation (@FIH_Hockey) January 16, 2024
Before the match, the Pakistan Hockey team’s head coach, Shahnaz Sheikh, expressed his views on a disappointing performance in the last match, “Our team is a blend of youth and experience and they don’t have enough international exposure which is why we struggled in the match against Great Britain. We will try to improve in our next match.”
Pakistan will need to achieve 3rd position in the whole tournament to qualify for the Paris Summer Olympics, 2024. The road to qualification can get smooth once the team manages to qualify for the semis.
Great Britain defeated Malaysia yesterday which means that if 23rd-placed China lose their last group game against the mighty Britain side, Pakistan will only need a draw against Malaysia.
| Team | Matches | Win | Draw | Loss | Points |
| Great Britain | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| China | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Pakistan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Malaysia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Pakistan will now face 13th-placed Malaysia in their final group match on January 18 in Muscat, Oman.
