JOHOR BAHRU, Oct 18 – Pakistan’s junior men’s hockey team produced a spirited comeback to earn a 3-3 draw against Australia in their final round-robin match of the Sultan of Johor Cup 2025 on Friday in Malaysia.
Despite trailing by two goals inside the opening 10 minutes, the Green Shirts showed resilience to level the score late in the game. Although already out of contention for the final following a 3-2 loss to New Zealand on Wednesday, the result ensured Pakistan secured fourth place in the group standings with five points from five games.
Pakistan staged a remarkable comeback to hold Australia to an exciting 3–3 draw in their 2025 Sultan of Johor Cup encounter at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium in Johor Bahru, Malaysia on Friday.#PakistanHockey #SultanOfJohorCup #PakistanVsAustralia #Hockey2025 #GreenShirts pic.twitter.com/zuzAuWFTic
— APP (@appcsocialmedia) October 17, 2025
Australia started strongly, scoring twice through Toby Mallon and Oscar Sproule by the 10th minute, putting Pakistan on the back foot early.
Captain Hannan Shahid narrowed the deficit in the 38th minute with a field goal, but Australia restored their two-goal cushion just after the third quarter began, courtesy of a penalty corner strike by Ian Grobbelaar in the 47th.
FT: Pakistan 7-2 Malaysia
Pakistan juniors thrash Malaysia in their opening match of Sultan of Johar Cup 2025! 🇵🇰💚
Sufyan Khan scored a hat-trick 🔥 pic.twitter.com/tFYyoG2wgr
— Muneeb Farrukh (@Muneeb313_) October 11, 2025
Pakistan responded instantly, as Hannan Shahid netted his second goal just a minute later. With four minutes remaining, Saifullah scored a brilliant field goal to seal a dramatic draw for Pakistan.
The trapping of the ball at top of D is crucial for the penalty corner drag flick. Two mistakes at important phase of the game were costly for Pakistan at the Sultan of Johor cup 2025 against newzeland. pic.twitter.com/e5WQvECFde
— Dr. Adnan (@dr_adnann) October 15, 2025
With this result, Pakistan will face Great Britain in the third-place playoff on Saturday. Great Britain finished third in the standings with seven points after drawing 2-2 with New Zealand earlier in the day.
In the tournament final, Australia will face India, who narrowly beat hosts Malaysia 2-1 earlier on Friday. India finished the group stage with 10 points, just one behind leaders Australia.
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Pakistan’s campaign has shown promise, with young talents like Hannan Shahid standing out as the team looks to secure a podium finish in their final match.
