Pakistan clinched the men’s hockey bronze medal with a 5-3 victory over South Korea at the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya on Saturday, staging a remarkable comeback after trailing by two goals at halftime.
The Green-shirts had fallen 3-1 behind at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium but produced a four-goal second-half fightback, keeping South Korea scoreless after the interval.
Sufyan Khan opened the scoring by converting a penalty corner in the first quarter, but Lee Gangsan quickly restored parity for South Korea.
The Koreans then took control in the second quarter. Kim YongBok put South Korea ahead before Yang Jihun converted another penalty corner to give his side a 3-1 lead at halftime.
Pakistan returned from the break with greater urgency and began to turn the contest around. Abdul Rehman pulled one back in the third quarter, reducing the deficit to 3-2 while South Korea struggled to create clear chances.
The decisive turnaround came in the final quarter. Waheed Rana scored twice, including a penalty-corner conversion, to put Pakistan ahead. Hannan Shahid then added another goal as the Green-shirts extended their advantage to 5-3.
South Korea were unable to respond in the closing stages, allowing Pakistan to see out the victory and secure the bronze medal.
Pakistan finished with 57 per cent possession and earned nine penalty corners, compared with five for South Korea.
