Pakistan win hockey bronze, end 64-year volleyball medal wait

Pakistan’s hockey team staged a stirring comeback to beat South Korea 5-3 and win bronze at the Asian Games on Saturday, while the men’s volleyball team beat China to win the country’s first Asian Games volleyball medal in 64 years.

The two bronze medals came a day after painful defeats in both semi-finals, Dawn reported.

Hockey: from 3-1 down to 5-3

A day after losing 4-3 to India in a dramatic semi-final, Pakistan showed great character at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium.

• 4th minute: penalty corner specialist Sufyan Khan put Pakistan ahead
• 12th minute: with Shakeel Moin in the sin bin, Gangsan Lee levelled for South Korea
• 18th and 25th minutes: Yongbok Kim and Jihun Yang made it 3-1 to Korea
• Half-time: Abdul Rehman converted a penalty corner to make it 3-2
• 52nd minute: Rana Waheed levelled with a field goal
• Late on: Waheed struck again from a penalty corner to put Pakistan ahead
• 59th minute: Hannan Shahid sealed the 5-3 win

Pakistan, who last won Asian Games hockey gold in 2010 and silver in 2014, now have something to build on. India face Malaysia in the final.

Volleyball: history made

Earlier, Pakistan’s volleyball team beat China 25-18, 25-16, 25-18 in Okazaki for bronze, their first Asian Games volleyball medal since the 1962 Jakarta Games, when they also took bronze behind Japan and India.

• Murad Khan: 18 points
• Afaq Khan: 14 points
• Ali Usman Faryad: 14 points
• Musawer Khan: 8 points

Pakistan dominated at the net. In the second set, 33 of their 44 spikes succeeded, a rate of 75 percent, against 45 percent for China. In the third, they made six blocks to China’s none.

The medal capped a superb run that included wins over Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and India, before a 3-0 semi-final defeat to three-time defending champions Iran, who meet Japan in the final.

Squash silver

On Friday, Pakistan’s men’s squash team won silver after losing the final 2-0 to Malaysia. Nasir Iqbal lost to Ameeshenraj Chandaran in four games, and Noor Zaman lost a five-game battle to world No 18 Eain Yow Ng, the singles gold medallist. It was Pakistan’s second straight silver in the event, and their wait for a first team gold since 2010 goes on.

Other results

Taekwondo player Hamzah Omar Saeed and wrestlers Inayat Ullah and Mohammad Gulzar lost their bouts on Saturday.

A strong Games

With silver in cricket and squash, bronze in hockey and volleyball, and earlier medals in women’s cricket, squash singles, mixed martial arts and esports, Pakistan have had one of their better Asian Games in recent years.

Why it matters

Hockey is Pakistan’s national game, and fighting back from two goals down to win a medal shows the team’s spirit is alive. The volleyball bronze is just as special: it ends a wait of 64 years. Read our reports on the cricket silver and on the volleyball win over India.

This article draws on reporting by Dawn.