Pakistan, Japan set to vie for Azlan Shah Hockey Cup 2024 trophy on Saturday

Pakistan and Japan will vie for the 30th Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Cup 2024 trophy in Ipoh, Malaysia on Saturday with the Greenshirts looking to clinch their fourth title at the event.

Both sides won their respective matches on Wednesday to book their place in the final. Pakistan edged past Canada 5-4, while Japan defeated hosts Malaysia 2-1.

Pakistan, the three-time former Sultan Azlan Shah Cup champions, have remained unbeaten with three wins – against South Korea, Malaysia and Canada – and a draw against Japan.

Mirroring Pakistan’s performance, Japan also registered as many wins plus a draw. However, they were second in the points table.

Malaysia and New Zealand ended their tournament at third and fourth in the points table, respectively, with six points each. South Korea are placed fifth with three points, while Canada are at the bottom with no wins in the six-team invitational tournament.

The final will start at 5:30pm Pakistan Standard Time. This will be the first time in 13 years that Pakistan have qualified for the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. They last played their previous final at the 2011 edition where they suffered a defeat against Australia.

Before the final, Pakistan will have a chance to fine-tune their game as they play their last round match against New Zealand at the same venue on May 10 (tomorrow.)

Path to the final

In the crucial match against Canada, Pakistan recovered from an early setback and registered a 5-4 win on Wednesday.

Canada started the game aggressively and kept attacking Pakistan’s goalpost from the word go. They succeeded in taking a 2-0 lead in the 17th minute of the game.

Pakistan were on the backfoot but made a resounding comeback to end the game with a decisive 5-4 lead.

Abu Bakr Mahmood scored two quick goals in the third quarter to bring Pakistan back into the game. Arshad Liaqat, Rana Waheed Ashraf and Ghazanfar Ali also notched up one goal each for Pakistan.

Sean Davis scored a brace for Canada, while Harbir Sindhu and Avjot Buttar scored one each.