DOHA, Dec 22: Pakistan and Malaysia clash in the Asian Champions Trophy here on Sunday with both teams having recorded victories in their opening two games of the event.

Favourites Pakistan recorded their second victory in the tournament when they beat China 5-2 on Friday following their 6-3 drubbing of Oman in their opener.

Waqas Sharif and Abdul Haseem Khan scored two goals each while Shakeel Abbasi added another for Pakistan to give them a morale-boosting victory ahead of their clash with Malaysia.

Despite their victory, Shakeel was unhappy with the Astroturf at the Al Rayyan Hockey Stadium.

“We are facing problems early on because of the turf,” he told The Peninsula after the match. “It is hard, fast paced and bumpy here and there, so it makes controlling the ball a bit difficult.”

Malaysia also made it two wins out of two after they came from a goal down to beat Oman 4-1. The Malaysians had beaten Japan in their opener by the same score.

“We did not start very well at all,” Malaysian coach Paul Revington told The Star. “But when we went 1-0 down it was the wake up call we needed. I’m happy with this result and all of us can take a good break tomorrow ahead of the game with Pakistan.”

In Friday’s other game, defending champions India followed their 4-0 victory over China in their opening match with a 3-1 triumph over Japan on Friday with V.R. Raghunath scoring a brace.—Agencies