- Pakistan loses to South Africa in Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.
- Trevor de Lora gave South Africa the lead.
- Abdul Shahid scored Pakistan’s consolation goal in the game’s 46th minute.
In their Sultan Azlan Shah Cup opener on Tuesday in Ipoh, Malaysia, Pakistan was defeated by South Africa by a score of four goals to one.
In the 24th minute, Trevor de Lora gave South Africa the lead, which was increased two minutes later by Connor Beauchamp.
The third and fourth goals for their team were scored by Senzwesihle Ngubane and Cameron Le Forestier, respectively, in the 37th and 42nd minutes of the game.
Abdul Shahid scored Pakistan’s consolation goal in the game’s 46th minute.
Nine Pakistani players made their debuts during the encounter due to the unavailability of many elders.
Nine players, including star players Ammad Butt, Hammad Anjum, Moeen Shakeel, and Rizwan Ali, declined to attend the training camp last month, forcing the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to deploy a youthful team for the competition.
According to insiders, players’ decisions to travel abroad were influenced by factors such as lucrative salaries in English league hockey compared to those provided by the PHF and issues with the Pakistan team’s coaching staff.
“Our team will give everything they’ve got on the pitch to get some points and move up the standings. It won’t be simple because about 10 players will be making their tournament debuts for us, but it will give the young people worldwide experience, Bhutta said on Monday from Malaysia to Geosuper.tv.
We had played together for over a year, therefore we would miss our senior guys. We would have done better if we had stuck with the same team, not just in this competition but also in the Asian Games,” he added.
On Wednesday, November 2, Pakistan will face the tournament’s hosts, Malaysia, in their second game.
[embedpost slug=”sultan-azlan-shah-preparing-amid-crisis/”]
