Pakistan's Muhammad Umar Bhutta (left) celebrates after scoring a goal against India during their hockey match at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. (AP Photo)
IPOH ( Malaysia): India squandered a first half lead to suffer an embarrassing 1-3 defeat against arch-rivals Pakistan in a crucial match of the Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Ipoh on Wednesday.
For India Rupinder Pal Singh (20th minute) scored the lone goal, while Umar Butta (49th), Mohammad Imran (55th) and veteran Sohail Abbas (57th) found the net for Pakistan in a high-voltage encounter between to the two traditional rivals.
India started the game on a positive note and created numerous scoring chances in the opening half but could not sustain the tempo.
Rupinder Pal Singh, the find of the tournament, capitalised on one such opportunity and increased his personal tally, handing India the lead in the 20th minute with a powerful dragflick from their second penalty corner.
However, it was a completely different scenario after the change of ends as, trailing by a goal, Pakistan came out all guns blazing and launched continuous raids on the Indian citadel.
Their efforts bore fruit in the 49th minute when Butta capiotalised on Diwakar Ram and Gurbaj Singh's defensive lapse to equalise for Pakistan.
Imran made it 2-1 in the 55th minute converting a penalty corner and two minutes later it was Abbas' turn to slam home the ball from another short corner to literally take the game away from the Indians.
Rupinder, who made a huge impact in the tournament after finding a place in the squad due to absence of ace penalty corner taker Sandeep Singh, gave the lead with his sixth goal of the tournament but India failed to add any more.
After India's complete domination in the initial stages, Pakistan earned their first penalty corner in the 25th minute, only for Sohail Abbas to shoot wide to the left.
Soon after, Mohammad Rizwan Senior sent in a diagonal cross from the right, but there were no strikers in front of Indian goal to capitalise on it.
India forced another penalty corner in the last minute before half-time, but this time Rupinder's soaring drag-flick was cleared by goalkeeper Imran Shah for a corner.
Going into the second half with a 1-0 lead, the Indian citadel came under pressure on two occasions within four minutes. Indian goalkeeper Adrian D'Souza charged out to thwart Rehan Butt in the 38th minute when the unmarked striker got the ball in a one-on-one situation with the custodian.
A minute later, Shakeel Abbasi sent a flick high over the cross-piece after darting in from the right flank.
Rupinder made a fine clearance from under Rehan's stick as he shaped to take a close-range shot at the goal in the 41st minute, but the pressure exerted by Pakistan was too much and in the 49th minute, Umar Bhutta scored the equaliser after getting Fareed Ahmed's pass from left.
Pakistan seized control of the match midway through the second session with two penalty corner conversions in two minutes.
Captain Muhammad Imran beat the Indian defence with a drag-flick that went into the cage to the right of the goalkeeper in the 56th minute and Sohail Abbas made it 3-1 a minute later with a similar drag-flick into the net.
India made some desperate efforts to bounce back into the game, but their moves failed to produce results against the experienced Pakistan team, which featured most members of the Guangzhou Asian Games gold winning squad.
Seeking to prepare their team ahead of the Champions Trophy and the Olympic Qualifier, India have fielded a young team without several top senior players who are injured or were not considered for selection after not turning up for the preparatory camp.
For India Rupinder Pal Singh (20th minute) scored the lone goal, while Umar Butta (49th), Mohammad Imran (55th) and veteran Sohail Abbas (57th) found the net for Pakistan in a high-voltage encounter between to the two traditional rivals.
India started the game on a positive note and created numerous scoring chances in the opening half but could not sustain the tempo.
Rupinder Pal Singh, the find of the tournament, capitalised on one such opportunity and increased his personal tally, handing India the lead in the 20th minute with a powerful dragflick from their second penalty corner.
However, it was a completely different scenario after the change of ends as, trailing by a goal, Pakistan came out all guns blazing and launched continuous raids on the Indian citadel.
Their efforts bore fruit in the 49th minute when Butta capiotalised on Diwakar Ram and Gurbaj Singh's defensive lapse to equalise for Pakistan.
Imran made it 2-1 in the 55th minute converting a penalty corner and two minutes later it was Abbas' turn to slam home the ball from another short corner to literally take the game away from the Indians.
Rupinder, who made a huge impact in the tournament after finding a place in the squad due to absence of ace penalty corner taker Sandeep Singh, gave the lead with his sixth goal of the tournament but India failed to add any more.
After India's complete domination in the initial stages, Pakistan earned their first penalty corner in the 25th minute, only for Sohail Abbas to shoot wide to the left.
Soon after, Mohammad Rizwan Senior sent in a diagonal cross from the right, but there were no strikers in front of Indian goal to capitalise on it.
India forced another penalty corner in the last minute before half-time, but this time Rupinder's soaring drag-flick was cleared by goalkeeper Imran Shah for a corner.
Going into the second half with a 1-0 lead, the Indian citadel came under pressure on two occasions within four minutes. Indian goalkeeper Adrian D'Souza charged out to thwart Rehan Butt in the 38th minute when the unmarked striker got the ball in a one-on-one situation with the custodian.
A minute later, Shakeel Abbasi sent a flick high over the cross-piece after darting in from the right flank.
Rupinder made a fine clearance from under Rehan's stick as he shaped to take a close-range shot at the goal in the 41st minute, but the pressure exerted by Pakistan was too much and in the 49th minute, Umar Bhutta scored the equaliser after getting Fareed Ahmed's pass from left.
Pakistan seized control of the match midway through the second session with two penalty corner conversions in two minutes.
Captain Muhammad Imran beat the Indian defence with a drag-flick that went into the cage to the right of the goalkeeper in the 56th minute and Sohail Abbas made it 3-1 a minute later with a similar drag-flick into the net.
India made some desperate efforts to bounce back into the game, but their moves failed to produce results against the experienced Pakistan team, which featured most members of the Guangzhou Asian Games gold winning squad.
Seeking to prepare their team ahead of the Champions Trophy and the Olympic Qualifier, India have fielded a young team without several top senior players who are injured or were not considered for selection after not turning up for the preparatory camp.
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