KUALA LUMPUR, 27 September 2003 — Pakistan played one of their worst matches in the 6th Asia Cup but did enough to beat semifinal opponents Japan 3-1 and qualify for tomorrow’s final against rivals India. Pakistan will start as favorites having beaten the Indians 4-2 in a preliminary round match on Wednesday. Pakistan had been expected to breeze through to the final, but credit must go to Japan who made them fight hard for the win. Shabbir Hussain put Pakistan 1-0 up in the 26th minute but the avalanche of goals did not materialize. Japan, who were fast on the break deservingly got the equalizer in the 39th minute through Ryuji Furusato.
Their joy was shortlived as Sohail Abbas regained Pakistan’s lead two minutes later through a penalty corner. Skipper Nadeem Ahmad made sure of the win by scoring off another penalty corner in the 58th minute.
“The players made too many mistakes when in possession and this made things difficult,” said Pakistan coach Tahir Zaman.
India qualified for the final earlier yesterday when they defeated defending champions South Korea 4-2. South Korea had taken the lead against India through a 39th minute goal from You Hyo-sik, but four goals in the space of 17 minutes from India thropugh Sandeep Michael (53), Prabhjot Singh (67), Gagan Ajit Singh (68) and Deepak Thakur (70) effectively quelled the Korean challenge. Though Korea pulled one back through Lee Jung-seon in the 69th minute, the Indians closed out the Koreans with superb policing. China, thanks to goals by Lup Fang Ming (24th minute), Hu Liang (54th minute) defeated Hong Kong and qualified for the 5-6 placing match against Malaysia, who smashed Bangladesh 5-0. M. Rodhanizam Mat Radzi (25), Azlan Misron (27), M. Amin Rahim (45), S. Kuhan (53) and Keevan Raj (61).
