Pakistan’s final pool match against Malaysia ended in a 5-5 draw in the ongoing Asia Hockey 5s World Cup Qualifiers on Thursday, in Salalah, Oman.
Pakistan’s Rana Abdul Waheed scored three goals, meanwhile Mohammad Murtaza and Abdul Rehman scored one each.
For Malaysia, Din Muhammad scored a brace and Mat Syarman, Anuwar Akhimullah and Ishak Arif notched up one each.
Pakistan, who registered four wins and a draw, also topped their group with 13 points. India finished second with 12 points, meanwhile Malaysia were third with 10 points.
Bangladesh, Oman and Japan finished in fourth, fifth and sixth place, respectively.
Earlier on Wednesday (August 30), Pakistan defeated arch-rivals India and Bangladesh 5-4 and 15-6 respectively and continued their impeccable form.
The Pakistan squad is accompanied by head coach Olympian Wasim Feroze and manager Major Muhammad Shahnawaz Khan.
India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Japan, Oman and Bangladesh are placed in the Elite pool. Hong Kong China, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Iran will compete in the Challenger pool.
After the teams complete their pool matches, the first crossover matches will be played amongst the bottom two teams of the elite pool and the top two teams in the challenger pool. The winners of these two contests will play in the second phase of crossover matches, against the teams in third and fourth place of the elite pool.
Finally, the two top finishers of the elite pool will take on the winners of the second crossovers in the semi-finals. The losing semi-finalists will play in the bronze medal match, where the winner, along with the two finalists will qualify for the inaugural FIH Hockey5s World Cup Oman 2024.
Pakistan squad
Abdullah Ishtiaq Khan, Ali Raza, Muhammad Abdullah, Ehtsham Aslam, Muhammad Murtaza Yaqoob, Arshad Liaquat, Zakriya Hayat, Rana Abdul Waheed Ashraf, Abdul Rehman and Abdul Wahab.