IPOH, Malaysia: Top seeds Britain secured their first win of this year’s Sultan Azlan Shah Cup yesterday with a 3-2 victory over India in a closely fought match.
New Zealand sent Asian champions Pakistan crashing to a 3-1 defeat, while Argentina beat South Korea 4-3 with just seconds on the clock, their first win of the tournament, which is an important warm-up for the London Olympics.
Britain, who drew their opening match 3-3 on Friday to hosts Malaysia, were in good form in the early part of the match, with Glenn Kirkham and Ben Hawes both scoring.
But some poor defending saw India draw level with goals from VR Raghunath and Sunil Sowmarpet, leaving it to Nick Catlin to save the day for Britain, ranked fourth in the world, with a goal in the 62nd minute.
Indian coach Michael Nobbs berated his team, saying they “simply did not follow the instruction given and wasted several good chances... What is the point in fancy stick work in the D if you do not score?” Earlier, New Zealand took a commanding 3-0 lead over Pakistan with goals from Ryan Archibald, Andy Hayward and Nick Wilson.
Pakistan pulled a goal back in the 44th minute through Abdul Haseem Khan, but the brief comeback was too late to pose a real threat to their dominant rivals.
“We created enough chances to take a point in the match but just did not have the final touch,” said Pakistan team manager Akhtar Rasool.
The win gives New Zealand maximum points from three outings as they beat India 5-1 and Argentina 5-2 in their opening two matches.
They now top the standings with nine points, while Britain are in second, and Pakistan are third with three points thanks to their 4-2 win over Argentina.
In the day’s other match, South Korea opened the scoring but then Argentina took a 2-1 lead.
The match went to 3-3 and was tight until the dying moments, but with the clock showing only 12 seconds, Facundo Callioni scored the decisive goal for Argentina to triumph.
In the standings, Argentina rank fourth with three points, while South Korea are last with one point, behind India and hosts Malaysia, who are not going to the London Olympics.
The seven-team tournament is an important last chance for teams to tune up and hone line-ups before the London Games.
FROM: AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
Britain beats India for first Azlan Shah win
