Pakistan open campaign with big win, Australia and India go down

Japan had no answer to Pakistan's attacking play as they fell to a 4-0 thrashing at the men's World Cup here yesterday.

A penalty corner conversion by Sohail Abbas and a field goal to Rehan Butt in the first twelve minutes of the match allowed Pakistan to slip into cruise control against less skilful opposition.

Abbas added a penalty corner conversion and Shakeel Abbasi a field goal in the last five minutes as Japan wilted under Pakistan's pressure.

Shahnaz Sheikh, Pakistan's coach, is optimistic Pakistan can carry on from their good start.

“When Pakistan starts well in a tournament it is likely Pakistan will do well in the tournament,” Sheikh said.

“I was impressed with the improvement in Pakistan to beat Japan 4-0 after we beat them 4-2 in the Asian Cup,” Sheikh added.

“Our young team was nervous today as it is a big game for us but the experience will mean we can get better as the tournament progresses,” said Akira Takahashi, Japan's coach.

Earlier in the day, India's nightmare start to the tournament continued with a 3-2 loss to England.

The Asians had already lost by the same score to Germany in their opening match on Wednesday.

India actually took the lead in the first half and went in a goal to the good at the break after England had failed to convert two penalty strokes.

“We played our game and not the occasion and did that even though we missed the two penalty strokes,” said Jason Lee, England's coach.

India took heart from England's first miss and scored first as Tushar Khandker set up Shivendra Singh for an easy tap-in.

But despite that bright start, India succumbed to an English fight-back after the break.

“We did not play hard enough and made too many errors in the midfield link by giving the ball away to England,” said Vasudevan Baskaran, India's coach.

“It is not the end of all hope for us in the tournament and I know the team can do a better job in later matches.”

Two losses from two matches make it most unlikely India can make the semi-finals from here, with matches against Holland and South Korea still to come.

Spain continued their edge over Australia with an impressive 3-1 victory in the clash of the top two seeds in Group A yesterday.

The Spaniards scored their goals through Eduard Tubau, Pol Amat, and Xavi Ribas.

After a batch of penalty corners after half time, Australia finally scored with Troy Elder flicking high into the net. – Agencies