Pakistan beat Egypt 3-1, Nigeria give scare to India
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| The News International |
October 25, 2003
The News International
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By our correspondent
KARACHI: Pakistan defeated Egypt by three goals to one in a Pool B match of the First Afro-Asian Games hockey tournament, at the G M C Balyogi Stadium, Gachibowli, in the Indian city of Hyderabad Deccan on Saturday. The Pakistanis were leading 1-0 at half-time through a ninth minute goal by forward Rehan Butt.
Pakistan, who had barely managed to beat Nigeria 4-3 in their first match on Thursday, will now meet hosts and old rivals India in their next match on Monday (tomorrow). The two teams, however, have been assured places in the semifinals as have South Korea from Pool A.
Pakistan made it 2-0 in the 38th minute after the break as Shakeel Abbasi hit the board. Five minutes later, Ghazanfar Ali made it three-nil but, in the 66th minute, Egypt?s Sameh Metwally Mohamed gave his team something to cherish as he reduced Pakistan?s win margin to 3-1.
Later in the day, India, who had started the tournament by brushing aside Egypt 5-1, were given a scare by underdogs Nigeria - as the latter also had Pakistan on the run before losing by a solitary goal in seven - as they could only defeat the African nation by a 5-3 margin.
In the Pool A matches yesterday, Malaysia beat Ghana convincingly by 5-0 and South Korea prevailed over South Africa two-nil. In the same pool on Thursday, Malaysia and South Africa had been locked in a 1-1 draw while South Korea had defeated Ghana 3-0.
The league round will come to an end tomorrow before the knockout stage will be contested on October 29 (Wednesday). The final and other classification matches among the eight participating teams will be held next Friday.
Monday?s matches: Pool A - South Africa v Ghana, South Korea v Malaysia. Pool B - Egypt v Nigeria, India v Pakistan.
Countries from Africa and Asia are participating in the inaugural Afro-Asian Games in eight different disciplines. These are athletics, boxing, football, hockey, shooting, swimming, tennis and weightlifting. Pakistan have sent teams for boxing, hockey and swimming.
Competition in boxing as well as swimming got underway on Saturday, but the Pakistanis have not yet made any appearances in these events. Pakistan hope to bring home medals at least from the boxing and hockey tournaments.
Points Table
Pool A P W D L GF GA GD Pts
South Korea 2 2 - - 5 0 5 6
Malaysia 2 1 1 - 6 1 5 4
South Africa 2 - 1 1 1 3 -2 1
Ghana 2 - - 2 0 8 -8 0
Pool B
India 2 2 - - 10 4 6 6
Pakistan 2 2 - - 7 4 3 6
Nigeria 2 - - 2 6 9 -3 0
Egypt 2 - - 2 2 8 -6 0
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