BHUBANESWAR: Putting behind three successive defeats in the league stage, Pakistan stunned Netherlands 4-2 to storm into the semifinals of the 35th Men’s Champions Trophy.
Defending champions Australia and Germany also advanced, with wins over Argentina and England, respectively.
Irfan It Is!
Muhammad Irfan starred in the Pakistan win, converting two penalty-corners in two minutes. The other goals were scored by Muhammad Umar Bhutta and captain Muhammad Imran. Jeroen Hertzberger and Constantijn Jonker reduced the margin.
Hertzberger gave Netherlands the lead in the sixth minute, but Pakistan bounced back in the second quarter to take a 2-1 lead. Bhutta levelled scores in the 16th, while captain Imran converted a penalty-corner in the 30th.
Netherlands scored the equaliser in the 39th minute through Jonker. Pakistan’s counterattacks in the last quarter sealed the match as Irfan converted penalty-corners in the 51st and 52nd minutes.
Oz All The Way
Unfazed by their patchy showing early on, Australia outclassed Argentina with goals from Simon Orchard (fifth), Jeremy Hayward (37), Daniel Beale (42) and Chris Ciriello (49). Matias Paredes (16) and Manuel Brunet (35) scored for Argentina. Australia captain Eddie Ockenden said, “We played a fast match and turned every opportunity into goals. Argentina is a strong team especially in defence. Cracking that was a big challenge.”
Furste Sizzles
A penalty-corner conversion by captain Moritz Furste and a beautiful field goal by Christopher Ruhr helped Germany. They started on a dashing note, winning five penalty-corners in the first 10 minutes, but only to squander them all. However, the sixth one brought them success as Furste hit the target just before half time. Ruhr capped the victory in the 58th minute. England played their best in the last quarter and earned penalty-corners in the 49th and 54th minute. Both proved abortive as Ashley Jackson’s drag-flick was palmed away by Nicolas Jacobi and Nick Catlin’s hit was blocked.