After losing to Japan by 2-3 goals in the Asia Hockey Cup, Pakistan is once again out of the World Cup race.
According to the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), a thrilling match was played between Pakistan and Japan in the third match of the Asia Hockey Cup held in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia.
However, the Japanese team managed to prove its superiority.
According to PHF, in the 14th minute of the game, Ryoma Oka scored a field goal for Japan and in the 15th minute, Akyomi Segi doubled the lead with a goal.
Ejaz Ahmed scored for Pakistan in the 23rd minute of the second quarter while Takoma Niva of Japan scored 3 goals in the 27th minute.
In the 30th minute of the game, Pakistan’s Mubashir Ali reduced the deficit of Pakistan by scoring on a penalty corner but no more goals were scored till the end of the game.
Both teams failed to score more goals and thus Japan won the match by 3 goals to 2 goals.
Japan had earlier beaten defending champions India by 5 goals to 2 and continued their excellent performance against Pakistan and led the team to victory.
Pakistan had played well in the first two matches, scoring in the last minutes of the first match against India to level the match 1-1 while in the second match they defeated Indonesia by a huge margin of 0-13.
After losing to Japan at the GB Sports Complex Hockey Stadium in Jakarta, Pakistan’s hopes of reaching the 2023 Hockey World Cup were dashed.
Japan tops Group A of the Asia Hockey Cup, while India beat Indonesia 0-16 to advance to the semi-finals.
The ongoing Asia Hockey Cup in Indonesia has become a qualifier for the World Cup, where the list of Asian teams for the World Cup in India has been completed after the competitions.
India has qualified directly as the host of the 2023 World Cup, with Japan, South Korea and Malaysia securing their place in the Hockey World Cup.