ISLAMABAD (ABC): Pakistan’s hopes to secure a quarterfinal spot at the FIH Hockey5s World Cup 2024 were shattered as they conceded a 7-8 defeat to Poland in their last pool A match in Muscat, Oman on Monday.
Poland scored three consecutive goals in the first quarter with Holosyniuk Jakub, Rutkowski Wojciech and Bembenek Tomasz, netting on goal apiece in the 8th, 9th and 10th minutes respectively to put Pakistan under immense pressure, according to information made available here by Pakistan Hockey Federation.
Pakistan bounced back shortly with captain Rana Waheed Ashraf and Ali Ghazanfar scoring two back-to-back goals in the 13th and 14 minutes to help their side go into the break 2-3.
In the second half both the teams scored 5-5 goals. For Poland, Jarzembowski Damian struck twice in the 18th and 21st minutes and Rutkowski, who had scored a goal in the first quarter netted another in the 22nd minute. Two stunning goals were scored by Glowacki Mikolaj and Nowakowski Mateusz in the 28th minute of the match.
Liaqat Arshad scored fourth goal of the match for Pakistan in the 20th minute.
Rana Waheed exhibited great resilience and fighting spirit as he scored three more goals in the 23rd, 26th and 30th minutes, but his efforts were not enough to get Pakistan over the line as they lost the important pool match to Poland 7-8 after a thrilling contest.
Poland became the second side from pool A to advance to the top-eight place playoffs in the competition. The Netherlands was the first team to book their place in the quarterfinals at the back of a strong start in the event. They beat Poland 6-3 in their opening match and followed it up with a 5-3 victory against Pakistan.
Pakistan launched their campaign in the event on a winning note, thrashing Nigeria 11-5 in their inaugural match on Sunday but could not continue the momentum as they fell down 3-5 fighting hard against the Netherlands in their second match of the day.
Sixteen teams, divided into four pools are featuring in the event. Pakistan were in Pool A along with Nigeria, the Netherlands and Poland. The tournament is the first-ever Hockey5s World Championship, organized by International Hockey Federation and played with a different format of five players on each side.