Ragunath registered hat-trick as India whips Pakistan 5-1 in hockey

DHAKA: Defending champion Pakistan suffered a big blow when they suffered 1-5 loss to India in their third hockey match of 11th South Asian Games at Maulana Bhasani Stadium here on Wednesday thanks to brilliant hat-trick by V.Ragunath.

It was a wake-up call for Sibtan-e-Raza's Pakistan Whites team which had beaten Nepal and Bangladesh in their first two games.

Nothing went right for the Pakistani boys as they struggled almost throughout the match against the coordinated moves by their opponents.

The senior most international in the Indian side with over 50 caps, produced dreaded show as India achieved their biggest win in South Asian Games history.

Raghunath scored via penalty corner strikes in 14th, 19th and 57th minutes of the match. Dharam Singh hit the opening two goals in the first and second minutes of the match which put Pakistan under great pressure. Full-back Wasif Siddiqui scored the consolation goal for the losers.

Around 3000 Pakistan supporters watching the match,not yet settled on their seats, were astonished when Dharam Singh gave his team 2 goals lead in first two minutes. Pakistan mustered as many as four penalty corners but could convert only one. On the other hand Indians also earned four penalty cornors and converted all into goals.

Pakistan coach and former Pakistan Captain Ahmed Alam blamed goalkeeper Imran Butt for poor display under the bars which led to team's big defeat.

Pakistan will now take on Sri Lanka in their next game on Friday while host Bangladesh take on India.

Pakistan must beat Sri Lanka and India must beat Bangladesh to making the way for the holders to qualify for the finals of the 5-team contest.

Source: Associated Press of Pakistan by Ehsan Qureshi