Pakistan beat Canada by 4-3 to earn seventh place in the Tournament

Sports Bulletin Report

ISLAMABAD: A Dayaan Cassiem master-class led South Africa to victory over Ireland in the thrilling final of the inaugural FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup South Africa 2022, securing qualification into the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023-24 season for the hosts.

The packed crowd in Potchefstroom was treated to an end-to-end display of attacking hockey in a closely fought match that ended in a 4-3 win in favor of South Africa. The attacking stars from both teams showed up in the big finals with Dayaan Cassiem and Shane O’Donoghue scoring twice, while Tevin Kok, Mustaphaa Cassiem and John McKee also getting on the scorecard. Dayaan Cassiem was especially brilliant, scoring two fantastic goals for the hosts in the first half before winning the penalty stroke, scored by younger brother Mustaphaa that gave South Africa the win in the final quarter.

Pakistan beat Canada (5-4) in 7th place match:

Pakistan started the 7th place playoff game on the attack, scoring two goals inside the first 6 minutes of the game. Canada didn’t let Pakistan run away with the game, and found two goals of their own to end the first half on level terms. Both teams scored a goal each from penalty corners and open play.

The second half continued to follow a back and forth pattern. Pakistan struck first in the 4th quarter after a scoreless 3rd, but Canada answered back within a minute. Canada then took the lead for the first time in the game with 6 minutes left, through a second Sean Murray goal, from a penalty corner. Pakistan responded instantly as a brilliant move from the right by Abdul Rana split the defense and allowed him to lift the ball over the keeper, into the net. Pakistan carried the momentum into the final minutes and a brilliant counter attacking move resulted in a goal scored by a diving Usama Bashir, to give Pakistan the lead with 3 minutes left to play that they carried to the end.

Usama Bashir, the winning goal scorer for Pakistan, was awarded the player of the match and said: “It came a bit late but as the tournament went on we started implementing the plan that coach Aikman had devised for us. That is what has got us the win today and we will improve further in the future.”

France vs Japan 2-2 (Shoot-out: 4-2) 5th place match:

The French resurgence at the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup continued as they finished their campaign on a high with a shoot-out win against Japan to claim the 5th position. Japan finish in the 6th place at the end of a good campaign that could’ve ended very differently had a few key moments gone their way.

France were quicker off the block and threatened to run away with the game, scoring twice in the first quarter. Captain Victor Charlet added the 5th goal of his campaign from a thundering penalty corner and Timothée Clément scored his first goal, diving across the goal to deflect a cross sent in by Gaspard Xavier.

Korea beat Malaysia (4-0) in Bronze medal match:

The Bronze medal match set-up a replay of the opening day match between Korea and Malaysia, where Korea had edged Malaysia in a narrow 1-0 win. While Korea once again emerged victors in the repeat contest, the margin between the two teams was much wider this time, thanks to the offensive masterclass the Korean attack put in.

After a goalless first quarter, Korea added two goals that gave them a lead they fully deserved. Seo Inwoo scored the opener before captain Namyong Lee doubled the lead with a great deflection at the back post. If Malaysia were looking for a reset at the interval, they did not get one. It was all Korea again in the 2nd half and they further added to their lead from a 39th minute penalty corner. The Malaysian rushers went straight for Jonghyun Jang, the top scorer at the Nations Cup, but Korea went for a variation with Jang passing it off to Jeon, and his pass to the far post was deflected in by Taeil Hwang. Jang still managed to get his 7th goal of the tournament though, with Korea winning a penalty corner in the 59th minute that Jang dispatched into the bottom left corner of the goal putting a cherry on top of the Korean win.

South Africa beat Ireland (4-3) in gold medal match:

South Africa started the second half strongly once again, and doubled their lead in the opening minute through a piece of individual brilliance by Tevin Kok who found the ball in a crowded space inside the circle, but calmly tapped it up, on to his stick, and lifted it over the keeper to double South Africa’s lead. South Africa could have sealed the win with another goal, but it was the Irish who scored the next goal of the game, with Shane O’Donoghue scoring his 5th goal of the campaign.

John McKee then brought Ireland level with a goal right at the stroke of the 3rd quarter buzzer that took a deflection off Keenan Horne’s stick and sailed over the head of Kriek who was left stranded by the deflection.

With 15 minutes left for both teams to look for a winner, Ireland committed too many players forward and an errant back pass was intercepted by the sharp Dayaan Cassiem who charged at the Irish goal with just the keeper to beat, but was brought down by O’Donoghue, resulting in a penalty stroke.

It was Dayaan’s younger brother, Mustaphaa Cassiem who stepped up to take the penalty stroke and calmly slotted the ball past David Fitzgerald to get the lead back for South Africa.