Asian Champions Trophy hockey: How Pakistan finished 3rd after a 3-match rollercoaster ride

When it comes to Pakistan hockey, things are never in a straight line. Their dazzling runs on the turf are usually criss-cross, but so are their fortunes. One minute they thrill you with their stick skills, the next minute (or a few years, as has been the case recently) they make you wonder where it goes all wrong. But it is hard to take your eyes off them when they are in the mood.

And they were, in a breathtaking second-half display against South Korea in the 3rd-4th place playoff at the Asian Champions Trophy at the Moqi Hockey Training Base in the China Daur Ethnic Park. Trailing 0-1 at halftime, Pakistan came storming back to win the match 5-2.

Yet, you couldn’t help but wonder. How come a team that played quite well against India, ended up losing against China a couple of days later, only to play for third place instead of being in the final?

Match Highlights
Pakistan vs Korea
Bronze medal
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After a fascinating throwback-style clash against India in the group-stage match on Saturday, it would have been a fair prediction to say Pakistan will have another go at their arch-rivals by reaching the final. They had taken the lead against red-hot favourites India, played an exciting brand of hockey, only to be undone by their own indiscipline and the undisputed brilliance of Harmanpreet Singh’s drag flicking. But that was their only defeat in the group stage, and they showed enough glimpses to suggest they’d be rightful finalists.

Of course, in Pakistan hockey nothing is that easily predictable. Two days after that solid performance against India, they went down in the semifinal against China – the lowest ranked among the six teams at this men’s ACT – after a 1-1 stalemate in regulation time. Penalty corners were a cause of concern all tournament for Pakistan, both in attack and defence, and it hurt them once more despite another strong third-quarter performance, they couldn’t convert it into an outright win.

In the shootout, it was a comedy of errors from each of the four Pakistan players who stepped up to try and score as China celebrated a famous win, reaching the final of men’s ACT for the first time. That match would have hurt Pakistan because they had outplayed China 5-1 in the pool stage.

But a day later, they found their groove in the second half, led by Hannan Shahid – named rising star of the tournament for the second straight time – and Sufyan Khan. Former India coach Roelant Oltmans – who has had multiple stints with the Pakistan teams – had spoken highly earlier this year about the promise young players like Sufyan had shown. If Pakistan’s hockey could head towards revival, it’ll be on the back of such exciting talent as Korea’s usually sturdy defence was repeatedly split open by Shahid and Ashraf Rana.

Pakistan also rallied behind coach Tahir Zaman who had been appointed as the head coach team only days ahead of the Asian Champions Trophy. Zaman, a former Olympian, joined the team in Hulunbuir City, after Oltmans didn’t accept another short-term assignment from the Pakistan Hockey Federation, according to PTI.

Sufyan, who was named player of the match for his two penalty corner goals against Korea, spoke about the disappointment of not playing in the final. “We are very happy to finish the tournament on a good note. Definitely, it would have been great if we had won yesterday’s match (against China) and played the final against India but we made a number of errors in the semifinal,” he told AHF. “Today, we didn’t start very well but during the half-time break, our coach shook us up in his own style and instilled confidence that we can bounce back.”

After not reaching the semifinals in Chennai in the last edition, Pakistan were also hammered 10-2 at the Asian Games by India. Then they missed out on a ticket to Paris 2024 through the Olympic qualifiers, while issues surrounding the governance of hockey have continued to haunt them, Yet, on the pitch, they showed in flashes this past week that they have the talent to drive the country towards a better future, if they get the right support.

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