The Pakistan Men's Hockey team won't take the flight to Paris for the upcoming Olympic Games as the Green Shirts suffered a loss to New Zealand in the Bronze medal match at the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers in Oman. Despite leading the contest for the majority of the duration, Pakistan succumbed at the closing stages of the game to lose 3-2. With this, the Pakistan side has failed to qualify for the summer Olympics, while New Zealand have made their way into the Games.
The Green Shirts were leading the game in three quarters despite being challenged by the Black Sticks several times. Mahmood Abu was the star for Pakistan as he scored two goals. Mahmood took his side to an early lead with a penalty corner in the 18th minute before Boyde Scott levelled things in the 24th minute. Mahmood was quick to strike again as he converted a penalty stroke in the 24th minute itself to take the Green shirts 2-1 into the half time.
The third quarter did not produce any goals despite the two teams looking for further success. The Blac Sticks were trailing 1-2 into the final quarter but with eight minutes left, Inglis Hugo brought parity through a field goal. The time kept ticking but New Zealand found just enough fuel left in the tank with Scott scoring a winner in the 58th minute.
The Green Shirts hardly had any time to react. They were suddenly caught off guard and trailing for the first time in the match with nearly two minutes to go. New Zealand kept their lead intact to win the game and also qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Notably, Germany faced Great Britain in the Gold medal match and went on to win it 1-0 with a late goal from Zwicker Martin in the 56th minute through a penalty corner. Both the teams have qualified for the Olympics already.
