Prolific scorer Sohail Abbas netted four goals, including a penalty stroke, as Pakistan thrashed unfancied Egypt 7-0 in the Olympic men's field hockey here on Tuesday.
Pakistan led 5-0 at half-time of the one-sided game after Kashif Jawaad opened with two goals by the 12th minute and captain Muhammad Nadeem added a third in the 15th.
Penalty corner specialist Abbas took his tally to 254 goals from 206 matches, scoring twice in the first half and two more after the interval.
Abbas' fourth goal was through a penalty stroke in the 58th minute when Kashif was roughly tackled inside the circle by Egypt's Ahmed Adnan.
Pakistan's first success in the competition, following their 2-1 defeat by Germany, left them with three points from two games.
It was just the kick-start Roelant Oltmans' team needed ahead of the tougher group A matches against South Korea, Spain and Britain.
Egypt, whose best Olympic placing was 12th at the Barcelona Games in 1992, qualified for Athens by defeating South Africa in the African Games last year.
The Egyptians are out of contention for the semi-finals with two consecutive defeats. They lost to Britain 1-3 in their opening match.