HULUNBUIR: Pakistan’s Sufyan Khan hailed his team’s fighting spirit after his brace led his side to a come-from-behind 5-2 victory against South Korea in their third-place playoff of the Asian Champions Trophy at the Moqi Training Base on Tuesday.

Pakistan had fallen behind to a lofted finish by Jungjun Lee in the 16th minute but Sufyan levelled matters in the 38th with a drag-flick to spark Pakistan’s fightback.

Hannan Shahid put Pakistan ahead in the very next minute with a fine field goal and although the Koreans responded swiftly with Jihun Yang’s penalty corner in the 40th, two goals in the space of four minutes sealed the contest.

Rooman scored a field goal in the 45th to put Pakistan back in front before Sufyan’s second penalty-corner conversion deflated the Koreans, who went on to concede again in the 54th with Hannan netting his second.

Sufyan was disappointed with Pakistan’s penalty shootout loss to China in the semi-finals but said that his side had done well.

The PHF stated that the cash award was intended to “acknowledge and encourage” the team’s performance during the tournament.

“We are very happy to finish the tournament on a good note,” he said. “Definitely, it would have been great if we had won yesterday’s match and played the final against India but we made a number of errors. Today, we didn’t start very well but during the half-time break, [Head Coach] Tahir Zaman shook us up in his own style and instilled confidence that we can bounce back.”

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Hockey Federation on Wednesday announced that players and officials of the team will receive a reward of US$100 each for their efforts in China, confirming the special cash prize sanctioned by PHF chief Mir Tariq Bugti.

The federation also announced that Abu Bakr Mahmood, who was injured during the event, would receive full support and rehabilitation facilities.

The PHF also dedicated the bronze medal to player Ghazanfar Ali, whose father passed away during the tournament. Despite the loss, Ghazanfar decided to continue playing in the event.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2024