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Rediff.com  » Sports » Pakistan whip India

Pakistan whip India

August 26, 2004 00:47 IST
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Netherlands 3 Germany 2
Australia 6 Spain 3
New Zealand 4 Korea 3
Pakistan 3 India 0
South Africa 5 Egypt 1
Britain 4 Argentina 1

India's hopes of a top six finish in the Olympic men's hockey tournament were dashed when they went down 0-3 to Pakistan on Wednesday night.

They will now take on South Korea, who were beaten 4-3 by New Zealand in another play-off match for the fifth to eight places.

New Zealand and Pakistan will play-off for fifth and sixth places.

India's inadequacies upfront surfaced once again as their forwards failed to pose any serious threat to the Pakistan defence. For the first time in the tournament the Indian defence came up with a heartening display, but despite keeping the slate clean in a goalless first session they failed to withstand the pressure the Pakistanis piled in the second period and caved in.

Had it not been for another brilliant display by goalkeeper Adrian D'Souza, the margin of defeat could have been worse.

D'Souza thwarted Sohail Abbas twice in the first session, running out to take the drag flicks on his body, and then with six minutes to go for the breather saved a stiff shot from Kashif Jawad.

But in the second session, after effecting a couple of saves more, he could do little when Tariq Aziz sneaked past a host of defenders following a free-hit, turned around and scored from behind him in the 44th minute.

That opened the floodgates as Sohail Abbas scored from Pakistan's sixth penalty-corner to make it 2-0 and then Shabbir Mohammad completed the rout with a goal two minutes from the end.

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