Pakistan clinch bronze with victory over Malaysia in U18 Hockey Asia Cup

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Pakistan claimed bronze at the Men’s U18 Hockey Asia Cup 2026 with a commanding 3-0 victory over Malaysia at the Kawasaki Heavy Industries Hockey Stadium on Saturday. The Green Shirts, who were knocked out of the title race following a gruelling 5-3 defeat at the hands of India in the semi-finals, made a blazing start to the position playoff as Uzair Ahmad opened their scoring just three minutes into the game through a sensational field goal. Pakistan continued to control the game despite Adeel receiving a green card late in the first quarter and eventually managed to double their advantage in the 23rd minute when Asam Haider successfully converted the penalty stroke. The third quarter saw five penalty corners — three to Pakistan and two to Malaysia — being awarded, but neither team could score, and the scoreboard remained intact at 2-0 in the former’s favour. The final quarter also got off to a quiet start until Adeel netted a sensational field goal in the penultimate minute to round up a dominant victory for Pakistan, who had finished as the runners-up in the previous edition of the Men’s U18 Hockey Asia Cup last year. For the unversed, Pakistan kicked off their campaign with a resounding 3-0 victory over China before suffering a narrow 3-2 defeat at the hands of Malaysia. The national team then inflicted a commanding 5-2 victory over Bangladesh to top the Group B standings and thus qualified for the semi-final.

Pakistan squad for U18 Hockey Asia Cup:

Mustafa Ghulam, Haider Asam (c), Saeed Muzammil, Asnan Muhammad, Zaman Muhammad, Akbar Hassan, Sami Rana Abdul, Awan Abdullah, Adeel, Zunair Muhammad, Najeeb Muhammad Yahya, Ullah Shahid, Yasin Salman, Qureshi Uzair Ahmad, Ghani Usman, Usman Muhammad, Aslam Muhammad Farhan and Noman.