KARACHI, 18 February 2006 — Pakistan drew first blood in their six-Test hockey series against old rivals India, winning the opening game 2-1 thanks to goals from young strikers Tariq Aziz and Shakeel Abbasi at Chandigarh’s Sector 42 Hockey Stadium yesterday.
Tariq scored a stunning first half goal and Abbasi sealed the the match in the fourth quarter as Pakistan thwarted several Indian attacks in the twilight stages to give themselves a solid start in the home-and-away series.
With both teams experimenting with new combinations ahead of next month’s Commonwealth Games, Pakistan showed more purposeful approach in the series opener played under lights in front of a large and vocal crowd. The visitors were more accurate at converting their opportunities while the Indian forwards failed to translate good moves into goals.
Apart from a superb 63rd minute strike by young forward Tushar Khandekar, the Indians were largely unimpressive in the scoring zone and wasted numerous opportunities including three short corners. Pakistan launched relentless attacks in the opening stages of the match and were finally rewarded when Tariq received a long pass from skipper Muhammad Saqlain. The youngster controlled the lightning pass with a reverse stick and came out with a full-blooded shot from near the penalty spot to beat India goalie Bharat Chethri in the 15th minute.
The Indians responded positively and tried to force their way back into the match with several solid moves from both flanks. They earned a couple of short corners but were unable to earn that elusive equalizer. Pakistan forced two back-to-back short corners at the stroke of halftime but could not add any more goals to their tally. The Pakistanis dominated the proceedings soon after the break as they earned three more short corners only to see their penalty corner specialist Muhammad Imran wasting them all.
