Representative image.© X (Twitter)

India vs Pakistan Live Streaming Men’s Junior Asia Cup Hockey Final Live Telecast© Hockey India

File photo of Pakistan hockey team

The Asian Champions Trophy 2024 came to an end on Tuesday with India winning a record-extending fifth title beating hosts China 1-0 in the final in Hulunbuir. A new-look Indian team stayed unbeaten throughout the tournament to take home the trophy. China, playing their first Asian Champions Trophy final, put up a great show but Jugraj Singh’s lone goal in the fourth quarter sealed the deal for India in the title clash. Pakistan, on the other hand, beat Korea in the third-place playoff. 

During the final, a visual from the official broadcasters showed Pakistan players holding the Chinese flag. The commentator said that it was clear whom they were supporting.  Interestingly, Pakistan had lost to China in the semi-final. 

The image of the incident soon went viral on social media. 

Pakistan hockey team supports China in AFC Asian Champions Trophy final

China is playing against India#HockeyIndia #India#Hockey #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/PTWCSKFobq

— Thakur Divya Prakash (@Divyaprakas8) September 17, 2024

I m so sorry for these Pakistan hockey players and their coach, who were supporting China today..

India 1-0 China.

We have won the Asian Champions Trophy for the second consecutive time ! pic.twitter.com/i6zvpA7HZ4

— John Oldman (@PrasunNagar) September 17, 2024

India Hockey Team won their 5th Asian Champions Trophy (The Most by any asian team).

Congratulations @TheHockeyIndia

But, Pakistan Hockey Team were caught supporting China #INDvCHN#AsianChampionsTrophy2024 pic.twitter.com/6TJBKikQbD

— Richard Kettleborough (@RichKettle07) September 17, 2024

Pakistan ended their campaign at the Hero Asian Champions Trophy with a 5-2 win against Korea, scoring them the bonze Medal here at the Moqi Hockey Training Base in the China Daur Ethnic Park on Tuesday.

It was goals by Sufyan Khan (38′, 49′), Hannan Shahid (39′, 54′) and Rooman (45′) who scored in Pakistan’s victory while Jungjun Lee (16′), Jihun Yang (40′) scored for Korea.

After a poor start, Pakistan, who were handed a disappointing loss in the semifinal by hosts China, made great amends to their game to bounce back in the second half of the match to clinch a thriller.

It was Korea who drew the first blood in the 16th minute when Jungjun Lee made a spectacular tackle to drive past Pakistan’s Hannan Shahid and make space in the top of the circle. He simply lofted the ball into the net, past Pakistan’s goalie Ishtiaq Abdullah Khan.

However, they came back from the 10-minute half-time break with determination and grit to bounce back. It was Hero of the Match Sufyan Khan who struck a splendid penalty corner in the 38th minute to equalise. Breathing life back into their attack, Hannan Shahid, who has displayed great form in this tournament, set up a stupendous field goal in the following minute. Making a fine dribble into the 15m mark, Hannan set up Salman Razzaq to score but his deflection was slightly off the mark but Hannan came up with a fine finish to nudge the ball past Korean goalie Jaehan Kim.

Though Korea equalised in the 40th minute through Jihun Yang’s penalty corner to keep the match in a 2-2 stalemate, it didn’t deter Pakistan’s spirit. They scored a field goal in the 45th minute through Rooman to regain the lead. Putting the Korean attack under pressure, Pakistan did well to come up with structured man-to-man marking in the final quarter to ensure they stay in lead.

Meanwhile, a brilliantly earned penalty corner in the 49th minute was perfectly executed by Pakistan’s ace dragflicker Sufyan, making it his double in the match and taking his personal tally in the tournament to four goals.

In the 54th minute, Hannan converted a stupendous field goal to take Pakistan’s lead to a formidable 5-2. This was Hannan’s sixth goal of the tournament and it was set-up by Rana Waheed Ashraf with a good assist in front of the goal-mouth. With goalie Muneeb Ur-Rehman replacing Ishtiaq in the last quarter, Pakistan defence held sway, did not allow Korea any circle penetration and held on to a well-earned victory.

With IANS inputs

Pakistan ended their campaign at the Hero Asian Champions Trophy with a 5-2 win against Korea, scoring them the bonze Medal here at the Moqi Hockey Training Base in the China Daur Ethnic Park on Tuesday. Goals by Sufyan Khan (38′, 49′), Hannan Shahid (39′, 54′) and Rooman (45′) who scored in Pakistan’s victory while Jungjun Lee (16′), Jihun Yang (40′) scored for Korea. After a poor start, Pakistan, who were handed a disappointing loss in the semifinal by hosts China, made great amends to their game to bounce back in the second half of the match to clinch a thriller.

It was Korea who drew the first blood in the 16th minute when Jungjun Lee made a spectacular tackle to drive past Pakistan’s Hannan Shahid and make space in the top of the circle. He simply lofted the ball into the net, past Pakistan’s goalie Ishtiaq Abdullah Khan.

However, they came back from the 10-minute half-time break with determination and grit to bounce back. It was Hero of the Match Sufyan Khan who struck a splendid penalty corner in the 38th minute to equalise. Breathing life back into their attack, Hannan Shahid, who has displayed great form in this tournament, set up a stupendous field goal in the following minute. Making a fine dribble into the 15m mark, Hannan set up Salman Razzaq to score but his deflection was slightly off the mark but Hannan came up with a fine finish to nudge the ball past Korean goalie Jaehan Kim.

Though Korea equalised in the 40th minute through Jihun Yang’s penalty corner to keep the match in a 2-2 stalemate, it didn’t deter Pakistan’s spirit. They scored a field goal in the 45th minute through Rooman to regain the lead. Putting the Korean attack under pressure, Pakistan did well to come up with structured man-to-man marking in the final quarter to ensure they stay in lead.

Meanwhile, a brilliantly earned penalty corner in the 49th minute was perfectly executed by Pakistan’s ace dragflicker Sufyan, making it his double in the match and taking his personal tally in the tournament to four goals.

In the 54th minute, Hannan converted a stupendous field goal to take Pakistan’s lead to a formidable 5-2. This was Hannan’s sixth goal of the tournament and it was set-up by Rana Waheed Ashraf with a good assist in front of the goal-mouth. With goalie Muneeb Ur-Rehman replacing Ishtiaq in the last quarter, Pakistan defence held sway, did not allow Korea any circle penetration and held on to a well-earned victory.

Hero of the Match, Sufyan Khan of Pakistan said, “We are very happy to finish the tournament on a good note. Definitely, it would have been great if we had won yesterday’s match (against China) and played the final against India today but we made a number of errors. Today, we didn’t start very well but during the half-time break, our Head Coach Tahir Zaman shook us up in his own style and instilled confidence that we can bounce back.”

Pakistan vs Korea Hockey LIVE: Take a look at the squads!

Pakistan: Abdul Rehman, Ahmad Ajaz, Ali Ghazanfar, Butt Ammad (Captain), Hammadudin Muhammad, Hayat Zikriya, Khan Abdullah Ishtiaq (Goal Keeper), Khan Sufyan, Liaqat Arshad, Mahmood Abu, Nadeem Ahmad, Qadir Faisal, Rana Waheed Ashraf, Razzaq Salman, Rooman, Shahid Hannan, Shakeel Moin, Ur-rehman Muneeb (Goal Keeper)

South Korea: Bae Jongsuk, Bae Soung Min, Cheon Min Su, Hyun Jigwang, Jung Hyunho, Kim Hyeonhong, Kim Jaehan (Goal Keeper), Kim Junghoo, Kim Minkwon, Kim Sunghyun, Kong Yoonho, Lee Gangsan, Lee Hyeseung, Lee Jungjun (Captain), Oh Daewon (Goal Keeper), Oh Seyong, Park Cheoleon, Park Geonwoo, Sim Jaewon, Yang Jihun

Pakistan vs Korea LIVE Streaming, Asian Champions Trophy 2024 LIVE Telecast: When And Where To Watch© X (Twitter)

In a mega upset, China stunned Pakistan 2-0 (1-1) in the shootout to enter the final of the Asian Champions Trophy at the Moqi Hockey Training Base in Hulunbuir, China. This will be the first time in the history of the tournament that the Chinese national team has made it to the title round while the second-highest number of title winners Pakistan will play for the bronze medal against the loser of the second semifinal between India and Korea. The Chinese goalkeeper Caiyu Wang was outstanding in his efforts to keep a clean slate in the shootout while Benhai Chen and Chanliang Lin scored for China. Earlier in the match, Yuanlin Lu had given China an early 1-0 lead in the 18th minute.

The first semifinal of the day truly lived up to its billing with China posing a mega threat to Pakistan’s hopes of making the final right from the start. They were gritty in their pursuit, dominated the ball possession and created early chances. China were buoyed by the unprecedented support from the home crowd, who turned up in large numbers as it was a government holiday on Monday for the Mooncake Festival which marks the post-autumn harvest celebrations across China.

After a 0-0 stalemate in the opening quarter, China scored in the 18th minute through Yuanlin Lu’s powerful dragflick to convert from the PC. The 1-0 lead for China put Pakistan on the backfoot. China also came up with brilliant defending in the second quarter to stop Pakistan from scoring a PC. They had created as many as five PCs this quarter but could not breach the Chinese defence.

Ahead of the start of the match, China Head Coach Jin Seung Yoo, who was a former player for Korea, said, “It’s an important game for us and we are totally charged up. This is the first time China is playing the semifinal of such a prestigious event in front of home crowd. Tahir Zaman, the Head Coach of Pakistan, and I have played quite a lot against each other (when Seung played for Korea) including the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Pakistan used to crush us (Korea) in the matches.”

Seung ensured this time, his team was not going to be crushed by Pakistan as they put up an inspired show. They punctured Pakistan’s attack and kept the pressure on through tactful defending. Though Pakistan mustered a goal in the 37th minute through Ahmed Nadeem, China ensured they didn’t concede another goal.

They played a disciplined game, tackled Pakistani attackers with strong man-to-man marking to ensure they didn’t create scoring opportunities. Though Pakistan made a handful of circle entries in the following minutes in the third and the fourth quarter, China restricted their shots on goal quite effectively to keep the scoreline at a 1-1 stalemate.

Hero of the Match, Yuanlin Lu of China said, “We prepared for this match with great enthusiasm. We discussed strategies in small batches before we finally got together as a team and prepared for the match against Pakistan. It also helped that we had played a few test matches against Pakistan just before this tournament. We had won against them in some of those matches, so we were quite upbeat. This was the first time I was playing the Asian Champions Trophy and to win the Hero of the Match is special.”

Indian men’s hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh continued his brilliant run of form, converting two penalty corners, as the side continued its unbeaten run in Asian Champions Trophy 2024. Up against Pakistan, India had to work harder than they did in their previous matches, to beat Pakistan 2-1 victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in their final league match of the campaign on Saturday. It was India’s fifth consecutive win in the six-team round-robin competition. But, as the two rival teams came face-to-face tensions soared, triggering a clash between the two sets of players.

Pakistan took the lead through Ahmad Nadeem (8th minute) before Harmanpreet (13th, 19th) converted two penalty corners to fashion India’s victory over familiar foes. It was Pakistan’s first loss in this tournament. India maintained the lead for the most part of the match, but Pakistan looked to get under India’s skin in the final quarter, hoping to bag the equaliser by all means.

The Indians started brightly dominating the early share of exchanges but Pakistan grew in confidence as the match progressed.

India were at the receiving end for the first time in the tournament when Pakistan drew the first blood.

It was a selfless Hannan Shahid whose brilliant work from the midfield split the Indian defence and Nadeem found himself at the right place to direct the ball into the Indian goal.

A stunned India kept up their composure and patiently built their attacks and secured their first penalty corner in the 13th minute. Skipper Harmanpreet scored with a powerful drag-flick to the left of a hapless Pakistan goalkeeper Munneb.

The Indians continued to press in the second quarter and gained their second penalty corner in the 19th minute and once again Pakistan defence had no answer as Harmanpreet was bang on target with India taking decisive 2-1 lead.

While India were the better side in terms of possession in the second quarter, Pakistan also had their chances, penetrating the rival circle on quite a few occasions.

Just 45 seconds from half-time Pakistan had an opportunity to draw level through a penalty corner but they wasted the chance as Sufyan Khan’s flick, which hit the top of cross-bar, was rejected for a raised ball.

The Indians sustained possession after the change of ends and secured their third penalty corner in the 37th minute, but Pakistan defended bravely.

Thereafter, a sustained spell of attacks helped Pakistanis to bag four penalty corners in quick succession but lacked the firepower to breach the Indian defence.

In the last quarter, both the sides relentlessly attacked and India secured three more short corners but failed to convert anyone of them.

The match also witnessed a heated encounter between Harmanpreet and Pakistan’s Ashraf Waheed Rana after the latter shouldered Jugraj Singh inside the Indian circle.

Here’s what happened:

Players clash during India vs Pakistan Hockey  match of Asian Champions Trophy. @jarmanpreet04 @13harmanpreet @manpreetpawar07 @iSunilTaneja @vikrantgupta73 @razi_haider #INDvPAK #Hockey #HockeyIndia #ACT24 pic.twitter.com/8mHLGKnP8s

— Harsh Tegta (@iamharshtegta) September 14, 2024

Jugraj was felled by the impact and was seen grimacing in pain. Harmanpreet and Jarmanpreet Singh were quick to counter the offender.

The on-field umpires and Pakistan captain Ammad Butt and other players of both teams rushed in to control the situation but Rana was shown a yellow card, which resulted in a 10-minute suspension after the umpire went for a referral for serious misconduct.

With PTI Inputs

India vs Pakistan LIVE Score, Men’s Hockey, Asian Champions Trophy 2024© AFP