Pakistan hope to conquer mighty Aussies in final

Khalid Hussain
KARACHI: A day before their tri-nation hockey event's final against Australia in Perth on today, Pakistan slumped to ninth place in the international rankings.

The Aussies, meanwhile, consolidated their place on the top of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) rankings, following a series of title-winning performances over the last 12 months.

The huge gap in the rankings of the two teams, according to a top Pakistan team official, will put pressure on the Australians who are hands down favourites to win the triangular title after having thrashed the Greenshirts 8-2 in a league match earlier this week.

"The fact is that we are ranked number nine in the world while they (Australia) are the number one team," said Khawaja Junaid, Pakistan's manager. "They are by far the best team in the world and have been beating even their top leading opponents with an enviable ease in recent times," he told 'The News' from Perth.

But Junaid, a former Olympian, was quick to add that his boys will be full of hope when they take the field against Australia in the final.

"It will be Australia who will be under pressure because everybody expects them to win easily tomorrow," said Junaid.

"On the other hand, we have nothing to lose. That will be mean that our boys can go all out and play their hearts out for an upset win against the Australians," he stressed.

Today's final is Pakistan's last match of what has been quite a happening tour of Australia during which they also featured in an innovative nine-a-side hockey tournament in Perth, finishing third behind Australia and New Zealand and just ahead of old rivals Australia.

"It's our last match of this tour and all the boys want to make it a memorable one," said Junaid. "They have learnt a lot on this tour especially in the match against Australia."

Meanwhile, Asian teams have failed to show any improvement in the latest international rankings announced by the FIH. Korea are the top-ranked team from Asia at the sixth place with a total of 1788 points. Slipping a spot down to number nine are record four-time World Cup winners Pakistan followed by India at number ten.

Pakistan's slump is a bit surprising considering the fact that they have done relatively well in the last ten months or so. They regained the Asian Games crown in China last December and then reached the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup before losing to reigning world champions Australia.

Australia enjoy a healthy 150 points lead over their chief rivals Germany. The Aussies have accumulated a total of 2620 points to retain the top spot ahead of the Germans. The Netherlands occupy the third place followed by European rivals Spain and England.

The top 10 rankings are:

Men - Australia 1 (2,620 points); Germany 2 (2,470); The Netherlands 3 (2,213); Spain 4 (1,990); England 5 (1,947); Korea 6 (1,788); New Zealand 7 (1,610); Argentina 8 (1,470); Pakistan 9 (1,460); India 10 (1,385).

Women - The Netherlands 1 (2,063 points); Argentina 2 (2,030); Germany 3 (1,765); England 4 (1,696); China 5 (1,675); New Zealand 6 (1,615); Australia 7 (1,548); Korea 8 (1,423); Japan 9 (1,318); United States 10 (1,233).