Pakistan’s under-21 hockey team is into the final of the Sultan of Johor Cup. The Green Shirts drew 2-2 with Japan in their final round-robin match at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium in Johor Bahru on Friday, and went through as the second finalist on goals scored. Both teams finished the league stage on seven points with an identical goal difference of plus eight, but Pakistan’s 18 goals across the tournament edged Japan’s 16. Pakistan will now face unbeaten hosts Malaysia in Saturday’s final at the same venue.
The 18-goal arithmetic that sent Pakistan through
Four matches produced one of the tightest tables the tournament has seen. Pakistan beat China 8-3 in the opener on October 17, then crushed Canada 6-2 a day later. The campaign nearly unravelled on Wednesday, when they collapsed from a 2-1 lead against Malaysia in nine chaotic minutes and lost 3-2. Friday’s draw brought the record to two wins, one draw and one defeat, worth seven points.
The arithmetic is what matters here, because it explains exactly why Pakistan are playing on Saturday and Japan are not. Pakistan’s four results gave them 18 goals scored (8 against China, 6 against Canada, 2 against Malaysia, 2 against Japan) and 10 conceded, for a goal difference of plus eight. Japan also finished with seven points and the same plus-eight difference, but managed only 16 goals. In other words, the two big opening routs did the heavy lifting: without those fourteen goals against China and Canada, Wednesday’s one-goal defeat would have ended the campaign. Attack, not caution, is what took Pakistan into the final.
Twice behind, twice level against Japan
Friday’s draw was a test of nerves that Pakistan handled. Japan struck twice and Pakistan hit back twice, with Hamza Fayyaz scoring in the 34th minute and Ghulam Mustafa in the 43rd, according to Dawn’s match report. Importantly, the team kept its discipline this time: there was no repeat of the card pile-up that wrecked the Malaysia game, and Pakistan finished the match at full strength. A team that needed goals got its equaliser when it counted, and that steadiness was the difference between a final berth and an early flight home.
Saturday’s rematch: the Malaysia lessons
Saturday brings the fixture Pakistan least wanted and most needs. Two days ago, Malaysia came from behind to win 3-2 after Pakistan had led 2-1, and the manner of the defeat will shape the final. Pakistan missed a penalty stroke at 0-0 in the 12th minute, lost Waleed to a red card in the 51st, then shed two more players to yellow cards and finished the match with only eight men. Malaysia, meanwhile, remain unbeaten in the tournament and reached only their second final ever, having won the inaugural edition in 2011, according to The Sun. Wednesday was also sweet revenge for the hosts, who lost twice to Pakistan at the Junior Asia Cup in September.
Head coach Sameer Hussain had warned this was coming. Speaking to The News before those two matches, he called Malaysia and Japan the toughest fixtures of the round-robin, pointing out that Malaysia field at least three players from their senior national team alongside home advantage, while Japan have five players with senior international experience. By contrast, most of Pakistan’s squad are under 20 and only one player has represented the senior national side. His team still beat Japan’s challenge. Now they get a second look at Malaysia.
What Pakistan must fix to lift a first title
Pakistan has never won the Sultan of Johor Cup; its best finish remains the runners-up spot from the 2016 final, per the tournament’s own records. Saturday offers a chance to change that, but only if Wednesday’s lessons are applied. First, stay at eleven men: the cards against Malaysia turned a lead into a collapse. Second, convert the set pieces: the saved stroke at 0-0 was the moment the Wednesday game turned. Third, find an answer to P. Naaveennash Panicker, who scored twice in Wednesday’s comeback. Pakistan’s route here was built on scoring, with 18 goals in four games, and a first title will demand one more attacking performance, this time with the discipline to match. Catch up on more sports news from Pakistan here.
The final also lands in a good week for Pakistani sport: the junior tennis side routed Bahrain 3-0 to open their Billie Jean King Cup campaign in Islamabad, while the senior hockey setup withdrew from the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy being hosted in Bangladesh.
