Pakistan, India to clash
in men's hockey semis
Seven-time Asian Games champions Pakistan set up a semi-final clash with traditional rivals
India by beating Malaysia 6-1 to lead their group in the men's hockey competition in Busan on Sunday.
Pakistan, who have failed to make the Asian Games final since winning their last gold medal in 1990, played at a blistering pace despite the rain-affected, waterlogged pitch causing problems for both teams.
Inside-left Mudassar Ali and center-forward Kashif Jawad
scored two goals each in open-field play to lead Pakistan's
charge, while wing strikers Muhammad Nadeem and Salim Khalid
had one goal each.
Malaysia got their only goal through a penalty-corner
conversion by skipper Kuhan Shanmuganathan.
The margin could have been a record against Malaysia had penalty-corner expert Sohail Abbas's shot not found the crossbar.
Pakistan had beaten Malaysia 6-0 in the 1958 Asiad.
Completing their third consecutive easy win in Pool B,
Pakistan topped the group with nine points while Malaysia took
the second spot with six points from three matches.
Pakistan's opponent in Thursday's semi-final will be
defending champions India, who finished second behind South
Korea in Pool A.
Malaysia, playing their first semi-final since winning the
bronze at Beijing in 1990, will take on Olympic silver
medallists South Korea.
In other matches of the day, Japan beat Hong Kong 3-0 and China beat Bangladesh by a similar margin.