Pakistan drubs Chinese Taipei

KUALA LUMPUR, MAY 6 Pakistan skipper Kashif Javaid cracked six goals including a superb second half hat-trick as the reigning champion took a step closer to the junior Asia Cup men's hockey tournament semifinals when it thrashed lowly Chinese Taipei 12-0 in a pool A match here today.

Javaid, who opened the scoring in the 5th minute, added his second in the 40th minute and then scored thrice in a row between the 42nd and 60th minute to complete a hat-trick before rounding off his tally with a last second goal.

Muddasar Ali Khan and Atif Mushtaq struck twice each while Shahid Rabban and Sameer Hussain contributed one goal each as Pakistan scored its second big victory after beating Singapore 13-0 in its first match.

Pakistan, which defeated India in the final of the previous edition, established its superiority from the start, though its rival surprisingly managed to keep the Pakistani forwards more or less silent till the break, allowing only four goals at the Bukit Jalil stadium here.

But the reigning Asian champion came out firing after the interval and slammed home eight more goals to complete the tally.

Pakistan opened the scoring in the 5th minute off a cracking penalty corner shot by Javaid. But for the next ten minutes, Chinese Taipei crowded the defence and managed to keep the scoreboard clean. Pakistan's second goal came in the 15th minute when Rabban raced into the circle to connect a well- measured cross.

After a Lull of another 15 minutes, Muddasar Ali scored made it 3-0 in the 31st minute while Pakistan's fourth goal came a minute before the break when Atif Mushtaq was successful with a penalty corner drive. But Pakistan, looking ahead for a big victory ahead of the needle match with strong contenders South Korea and the ever-improving Malaysia, cracked open the Taipei defence in the second half as it went all out in search for more goals. Two minutes into the second session, Muddasar Ali struck his second goal when he was on target with a penalty stroke. Javaid then made it 6-0 in the 40th minute and two minutes later, sameer Hussain made it 7-0.

Javaid then completed his hat-trick to make it 10-0 for the winner. Kashif's scoring spree was broken by Atif Mushtaq when he slammed in a field attempt in the 60th minute. But the Pakistan skipper had the last word as he completed the rout with a last second goal.

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