Pakistan out played Malaysia in a nine-goal thriller with a 7-2 victory in their opening match of the 13th Sultan of Johor Cup at the Johor Hockey Stadium in Taman Daya, Johor Bahru today.
The Green Shirts were in their elements against the host in front of more than 2,000 local fans as they upped the ante in the third quarter to claim a comfortable 5-2 lead with eight minutes remaining to the end of the quarter.
Much was expected from the Malaysians who had sounded a podium finish before the start of the tournament. At the same time Pakistan’s big win is an early warning that they are here with a mission.
Malaysia’s national junior coach Nor Saiful Zaini, said: “Previously, we couldn’t play against Pakistan, India, or Australia — I mean, their national teams. So, we tried to play an open game against Pakistan. Like international hockey now, we play openly, one-on-one. We found that most of our players, except Andy Afnan, who plays for the national team, are not able to play open game one-on-one.
However, for Pakistan, he added that most of their players who represent their national team such as Sufyan Khan and Abdul Hannan have a lot of experience. They scored five goals from penalty corners (PC). We couldn’t!
Drag-flick specialist Sufyan fired a hat-trick with goals in the third, 21st and 34th minutes. Nadeem Khan helped himself to a brace (32nd and 44th) while Abdul Hannan Shahid (30th) and Fayyaz Hamza (52nd) completed the rout.
The Young Tigers responded with goals from Ammar Abd (20th) and Azimuddin Kamaruddin (35th) through penalty corner conversions.
Saiful Zaini’s junior team will next play against Australia (6.15pm) tomorrow, and Pakistan goes up against Great Britain (8.35pm).
Sufyan, forward Hannan and midfielder Zikriya Hayat were also members of the senior team that lost to New Zealand in the 2025 Nations Cup held in Kuala Lumpur.
The men in Green Shirts have yet to capture the coveted SOJC trophy since its inception in 2011. The Pakistanis qualified for the 2016 final for the first and only time in the history of the tournament, before going down 1-3 to Australia to claim the silver medal.
The team finished in fourth place in 2012, 2013 and 2023, where they lost 5-6 to three-time champions India in a penalty shootout in the playoff for a bronze medal following a 3-3 draw in regulation time.
