Japan shatter Pakistan dreams in final to win Sultan Azlan Shah Cup

IPOH (Agencies): Japan defeated Pakistan in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Hockey Tournament final in a penalty shootout on Saturday after the game between the two Asian sides ended in a draw in normal time. The Japanese side drew first blood against Pakistan as they opened the scoring in the first half after the latter’s weak defence let in the Japanese forward from the left wing. Pakistan drew level in and then took the lead against Japan in the second half, turning the tie around with two goals in quick succession. The Japanese side then equalised late to send the game to a penalty shootout. Japan won the tie as they converted all four penalties in the shootout while Pakistan only managed one out of three. The Pakistan hockey team played in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2024 final after a gap of 13 years. The finalists had already been decided before the last round of matches was played and Japan’s 3-1 win over Canada saw them finish two points above Pakistan in the table. The final of the Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament was played in Ipoh, Malaysia. Pakistan continued their then-unbeaten run at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup with a creditable 1-1 draw against New Zealand in their last round-robin match on Friday. Pakistan and Japan had played out a 1-1 draw in their round-robin encounter and Pakistan’s coach Roelant Oltmans expected another tight match in the final.

“Japan have neither scored many goals nor conceded many. They are a good side,” Oltmans told reporters after the match against New Zealand. “We need to open them up. We have the players to do it, but it will not be easy. They are compact and organised defensively.” Pakistan fell behind to Paris Olympics-bound New Zealand when Luke Hol­mes scored in the 35th minute but kept their unbeaten run intact thanks to Abu Bakr Mahmood’s penalty corner conversion eight minutes later. “The first half was New Zealand’s and the second half was ours,” Oltmans told reporters. “Our start was not good and we conceded two penalty comers in the first minute. But this cannot happen in the final against Japan. The players did very well in this tournament but I am not satisfied with our performances in the first half. We were terrible in ball possession. We lost it even before can could even dominate the game. It is not the way we should play. The boys came out really good and we created penalty corner opportunities. We managed to score even with one player less,” he said. The government and the nation expressed their best wishes for the team in the final and had hoped for a victorious outcome. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the side for making it to the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament final after 13 years.