Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], August 7 : Following his side's win over China in the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament, Pakistan skipper Umar Bhutta admitted that Team India, their next opponent in the tournament, is better than their side.
He said Pakistan side has a lot of junior players.
Malaysia made a strong comeback after a loss to India and secured a 3-1 win over Japan, while Pakistan also bagged their first win of the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy after beating China 2-1 at Chennai on Monday.
Pakistan will take on India on August 9. The last time Pakistan beat India in hockey was in 2016 at SAF Games in Guwahati after that India and Pakistan played 14 matches together, where India won 12 while two ended in a draw.
"India is a better side than us, honestly. If you look into our side, we have a lot of junior players, from the junior team. We will take it as a normal match and let us see what happens," said Umar to ANI.
Umar was happy with his side's win. He said that earlier during the tournament, Pakistan used to fumble after getting good starts but they improved in this match.
"In the last two games, we used to get good starts. We used to be in the lead but ended up conceding and the match used to end up in a draw. This time the team worked on it and improved to earn three points. So, it feels good," said Umar.
The skipper admitted that they are getting great support in India.
Pakistan team's head coach Mohammed Saqlain also admitted that the upcoming match against arch-rivals India would not be easy for his team, given the form Men in Blue are in.
"There is no doubt that India is a great team. They are Olympics Bronze medallists (in Tokyo 2020). The way they played against Malaysia, they showed that they are the best in the world. They won against the Netherlands in the recently played four-nation tournament which is also a big win. No doubt they are number one in Asia. They are a top team in the world. Definitely, it would not be easy to win against them. Their world ranking is two or three (fourth) and ours is 17-18 (17) but we hope to give them a tough time," said Saqlain to ANI.
Saqlain was, however, happy with his side's win, saying that his side missed a lot of chances and they will continue working on it.
"It is a great win for us. We are missing a lot of chances which we missed today in our start. We will have to work on it. This win will give confidence to our boys as we are a very young team. They are experiencing a win for the first time. So, we are happy to win the first game," he said.
He said that the team is very young and will get plenty of exposure during the Asian Games, which will be held in China from September 23 to October 8.
"We would like to do well in Asian Games too," he added.
Coming to the match, in the first quarter, Pakistan created plenty of chances to score but missed all. The first quarter ended goalless despite efforts from Abdul Rana, Muhammad Khan and Rehman.
In the second quarter, Pakistan took the lead in the 20th minute with a superb strike from Muhammad Khan, who unleashed a deadly drag flick to the delight of his team's fans.
Pakistan ended half-time with a 1-0 lead over China.
In the third quarter, China successfully converted a penalty corner and Jisheng Gao hit the equaliser with a ferocious drag-flick.
Just six minutes later however, Pakistan took back the lead, with Afraz placing the ball comfortably into the net after Umar Bhutta and Rana made some great moves inside the circle.
Pakistan reached the final quarter with a 2-1 lead.
Pakistan ended the final quarter with the same scoreline, climbing to the fourth spot with one win, two draws and a loss in four matches and a total of five points. China is at the bottom with one draw and three losses. They have earned just one point.
In the final match of the day, India is taking on defending champions South Korea.
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