NETHERLANDS – India thrashed Pakistan by 4-0 in the opening match of the Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy 2018 in Breda, Holland, today (Saturday).
As strategy, team Pakistan fielded additional player by withdrawing its goal keeper in the last five minutes of the game. The move backfired as it provided India an opportunity to score two more goals in the last stage of the game.
Goal Score Pakistan 0 India 4
Goal Scorer: 26″ SINGH Ramandeep, 54″ SINGH Dilpreet, 57″, SINGH Mandeep,, 60″ UPADHYAY Lalit.
As always, the Pakistan-Pakistan clash is the highlight of the tournament that also features Olympic champions Argentina, Australia, Belgium and Holland.
#HCT2018: Pakistan go to the drawing board…and receive instructions from their Coach Roelant Oltmans.
At Halftime, It’s India 1 – Pakistan 0#RoelantOltmans #PakistanHockey #IndiaHockey #IndiavsPakistan pic.twitter.com/lFPkG41ULV
— DragFlick (@dragflickworld) June 23, 2018
Pakistan, ranked No.13 in the world while India ranked at 6 should have no qualms in overcoming the challenge albeit they keep their emotions in check and stick to the game plan.
India, who have never won a Champions Trophy title in hockey, is looking to put behind their miserable Commonwealth Games campaign in the match against arch-rivals Pakistan, who are looking for their fourth Champions Trophy title.
The last time Pakistan faced India in the Champions Trophy was during the 2014 edition of the tournament, where Pakistan beat India 4-3 in the semi-final after a nail-biting encounter. Despite losing the final to Germany 2-0, Pakistan’s performance in the semi-final is still seen as one of their more memorable performances in the tournament.
Team ?? at Champions Trophy 2018 (PST):
23 June: Pakistan v India 5 PM
24 June: Pakistan v Australia 7 PM
26 June: Pakistan v Netherlands 11 PM
28 June: Pakistan v Argentina 6 PM
29 June: Pakistan v Belgium 6 PM
Event Details: https://t.co/YaFx42nanl#PakistanHockey #HCT2018 pic.twitter.com/tPNkd5oYws— PHF (@PHFOfficial) June 22, 2018
Pakistan won the inaugural edition of the Champions Trophy held in Lahore in 1978 when they beat Australia in the final.
Four years later, Pakistan picked up their second title beating West Germany in Karachi. The last time Pakistan picked up the Champions Trophy title was in 1994 in Lahore, when they beat Germany (7–6) on penalty strokes.
Not only do Pakistan have three titles under their belt, they have finished as runner-up seven times in the tournament in 1983, 1984, 1988, 1991, 1996, 1998, and 2014.
On the other hand, the best India have fared in the tournament was the runners-up finish at the 2016 event in London, losing to Australia in a shoot-out.
Six teams will be taking part in this year’s tournament, which is the last edition of Champions Trophy. The tournament will be replaced by the Hockey Pro League (HPL) in 2019.
Apart from hosts the Netherlands, Australia, Argentina, Belgium, India and Pakistan are taking part in the tournament from June 23 to July 1.
So close to the start of the final edition of the Champions Trophy! #HCT2018
Get behind your team, follow them for updates and support our boys throughout the tournament! #TeamPAK: @PHFOfficial @Buttimran58Butt @alishanhp10 @m_irfan04 @rizwanjunior4 @Tasawar1435 pic.twitter.com/PDuVu1YSr0
— Rida Ahmed (@Ridizil) June 23, 2018
Pakistan squad for Champions Trophy 2018
M Rizwan Sr (captain), Imran Butt, Amjad Ali, M Irfan Sr, Mubashir Ali, Aleem Bilal, Ammad Shakeel Butt, Touseeq Arshad, Rashid Mahmood, Tasawar Abbas, Abu Bakar, M Irfan Jr, Arslan Qadir, Umar Bhutta, Shafqat Rasool, Ali Shan, Azfar Yaqoob and Aijaz Ahmed.
Captain Muhammad Rizwan Sr is one of the eight players to have surpassed the 100 international appearances milestone, while Shafqat Rasool is the most capped player in the group with 190 senior international appearances.
