No comeback needed this time. Pakistan just went and won it early
Day one, Pakistan needed six second-half goals to dig themselves out of a hole. Day two, they didn’t bother with the hole.
Pakistan beat Canada 6-2 on Sunday in Johor Bahru to make it two wins from two, and this one was basically settled before half-time. In the late game the hosts finally showed up, and Malaysia beat China 3-0 without ever looking rushed. Eleven goals across the day, and the table already has a shape: Pakistan clear at the top, everybody else chasing.
Pakistan 6-2 Canada: three up, job half done, then finished properly
Hamza Fayyaz opened it from a penalty corner in the 9th minute. Ali Hamza made it 2-0 with a field goal five minutes later, and when Rana Abdul Sami scored in the 25th, Pakistan were 3-0 up and cruising.
Canada, to be fair to them, didn’t fold. Gurnoor Bhullar pulled one back in the 30th minute, so it was 3-1 at the break, and for a side that had shipped eight the day before, that counts as resistance.
Rana Waleed restored the three-goal cushion in the 38th. Abiram Yogeshwaran gave Canada a second in the 45th, 4-2, and briefly the game had a pulse again. Then Asam Haider converted a penalty corner in the 51st and Adeel finished the scoring three minutes later. 6-2. Done.
The numbers tell the story of Pakistan’s week so far. Fourteen goals in two games is a serious attack, and captain Muhammad Ammad’s side have scored in every quarter they’ve needed to. But they’ve also conceded five across those two games, and Canada, bottom of the table Canada, scored twice today. Against Japan on Friday or Malaysia on Wednesday, that leak costs more than it did here.
For Canada it’s now two played, two lost, fourteen conceded. The goals they’re scoring, three in two games, aren’t the disaster. The defending is. Tuesday against China is suddenly their whole tournament.
Pakistan scorers: Hamza Fayyaz 9′ (PC), Ali Hamza 14′, Rana Abdul Sami 25′, Rana Waleed 38′, Asam Haider 51′ (PC), Adeel 54′
Canada scorers: Gurnoor Bhullar 30′, Abiram Yogeshwaran 45′
Malaysia 3-0 China: the hosts start with a shutout, not a shootout
Malaysia were the last team to play a minute at their own tournament. They made the wait look calm.
Nabil Yusof scored from a penalty corner in the 5th minute, then did exactly the same thing in the 28th. Two corners, two goals, and China never got the early chaos going that had Pakistan 3-1 down on day one. Liang Haolin, who scored twice in three minutes on Saturday, didn’t score at all on Sunday.
A Aferullsyah’s field goal in the 57th minute wrapped it up, 3-0, and Malaysia walked off with a clean sheet and three points from their first night.
Where Pakistan and Japan won their games by flooding the scoreboard, Malaysia won theirs by controlling it. Different route, same points. For our money that’s the result that makes Tuesday interesting, because a host side that can defend like that is a problem for anyone at Taman Daya.
China, meanwhile, have now lost twice and conceded eleven in two days. The first 25 minutes against Pakistan showed they can hurt teams. Since then, mostly, they’ve been hurt.
Malaysia scorers: Nabil Yusof 5′ (PC), 28′ (PC), A Aferullsyah 57′
China scorers: None
What the table looks like now
Pakistan sit top: played 2, won 2, goal difference +9, 6 points.
Japan are second with 3 points from one game and a +7 difference. Malaysia are third, also 3 points from one game, +3 after the shutout. China are fourth on 0 points from two games, -8, and Canada are bottom on 0 points, -11.
That bottom spot matters more than usual here. Only the top four get a match on the final day, Saturday 24 October, first against second in the final and third against fourth in the 3rd-place game. Finish fifth and you just go home. China and Canada are the two sides staring at that right now, and they play each other next.
Tuesday in Johor: a rest day first, then it gets serious
There’s no hockey on Monday. The tournament breathes for a day, then Tuesday brings the two games that sort out the middle of this table.
Canada v China, Tuesday 20 October, 2:05 pm PKT
Both on zero points, both leaking goals. The winner keeps a real shot at the medal matches. The loser is almost certainly playing for pride from here, and the run-in isn’t kind either way, with China still facing Japan and Canada still facing the hosts. Somebody’s season in Johor effectively ends at about 3:30 on Tuesday afternoon.
Japan v Malaysia, Tuesday 20 October, 4:35 pm PKT
The day’s real game. Both sides have three points from one match. The winner joins Pakistan on six and takes a huge step towards the final. Japan had Sunday off, Malaysia didn’t, but Malaysia have the crowd, and after a 3-0 start they’ll believe they can live with Japan’s pace. Hard to look past Japan on day-one form, eight goals and eight different scorers, but this is the first time they face a side that can actually defend.
Pakistan don’t play Tuesday. They face Malaysia on Wednesday, and by then they’ll know if the hosts are coming into that game level with them on points or chasing. Day two belonged to Pakistan at the top and Malaysia at home. Tuesday decides whether anyone else gets a say.
The Pakistan win was covered live: LIVE Pakistan v Canada. Before it, we previewed Malaysia v China, and Day 3 brought Malaysia’s late comeback against Japan.
