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The Indian men’s hockey team qualified for the FIH Men’s Hockey 5s World Cup 2024 by winning the Hockey 5s Asia Cup on Saturday. Indian men booked their place at the global event by defeating Pakistan 4-4 (shootout 2-0) in a thrilling final of the Asian qualifiers.
For India, Mohammad Raheel (19th, 26th minute) scored two goals while Jugraj Singh (seventh minute) and Maninder Singh (10th minute) scored one goal each. Abdul Rehman (5th minute), Abdul Rana (13th minute), Zakaria Hayat (14th minute) and Arshad Liaquat (19th minute) scored one goal each for Pakistan and the score remained level at full-time to tie the game. Gurjot Singh and Maninder Singh managed to score for India in the shootout, while Mohammad Murtaza and Arshad Liaquat failed to score for Pakistan.
Despite losing a close match to Pakistan in the league stage, the Indian team started with enthusiasm and put pressure on the opposition team. However, Pakistan started creating chances from the left. Indian goalkeeper Suraj Karkera stepped up to make a crucial save but Abdul Rehman scored Pakistan’s first goal in the fifth minute. Pakistan could not pacify India’s forward line for long.
Jugraj and Maninder put India ahead 2-1 within three minutes. India’s lead could have been maintained till half-time but Abdul Rana and Hayat scored in the 13th and 14th minutes respectively to put Pakistan ahead 3-2.
India tried to score early in the second half but Arshad managed to double Pakistan’s lead in the 19th minute. The Indian team could have come under pressure after trailing by 2-4, but Rahil did not allow it to happen. Rahil, who was the hero of India’s victory by scoring four goals in the semi-final, scored India’s third goal immediately after Arshad’s goal.
After this, Pakistan also made some mistakes in defense and Raheel managed to surround Pakistan’s defense for the fourth time with the help of a long pass in the 26th minute. After the best efforts of both the teams, the score was tied till the 30th minute. In the shootout, Avichal Gurjot and Maninder scored goals to make India the Asian champion. Meanwhile, Hockey India has announced to give 2 lakh rupees to all the players of the Indian team and 1 lakh rupees to the support staff on becoming the Asian champion.
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