Pakistan achieved a remarkable 5-2 victory over Korea to conclude their run at the Hero Asian Champions Trophy with a Bronze Medal at the Moqi Hockey Training Base in the China Daur Ethnic Park on Tuesday. Sufyan Khan (38′, 49′), Hannan Shahid (39′, 54′), and Rooman (45′) found the net for Pakistan in their win, with goals from Jungjun Lee (16′) and Jihun Yang (40′) for Korea.
Pakistan had lost to China in the semi-final
Pakistan, who suffered a defeat in the Semifinal against China, improved their performance after a slow start and won a thrilling match with a strong second-half performance.
Korea took the lead in the 16th minute as Jungjun Lee made an impressive tackle to get past Pakistan’s Hannan Shahid and create room at the top of the circle. He just lifted the ball over Pakistan’s goalkeeper Ishtiaq Abdullah Khan and into the net.
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The score caused Pakistan to panic as they lost most of the ball possession and let Korea into their circle nearly seven times in the second quarter. Even though Pakistan had two good opportunities to score this quarter, they were unable to capitalize on them. Nevertheless, they returned from the 10-minute halftime pause with resolve and tenacity to make a comeback. Hero of the Match Sufyan Khan leveled the score with a splendid PC in the 38th minute.
Reviving their offensive play, Hannan Shahid, who has been in impressive form in this competition, scored an amazing field goal within the next minute. Setting up Salman Razzaq, Hannan made a precise dribble to the 15m line but his deflection was not accurate, so he finished the play by nudging the ball past Korean goalkeeper Jaehan Kim.
Also read: Asian Champions Trophy: India beat Pakistan 2-1 to enter semi-finals
Though Korea equalised in the 40th minute through Jihun Yang’s PC to keep the match in a 2-2 stalemate, it didn’t deter Pakistan’s spirit. They scored a field goal in the 45th minute through Rooman to regain the lead.
