KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - World Champions Australia won the 20th edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup on Sunday beating Pakistan 3-2 through a golden goal in extra-time. Australia took the lead in the 11th minute through Christopher Ciriello off their second penalty corner, but the goal only served to spur on Pakistan who went in search of the equaliser. It came in the 31st minute off their second penalty corner attempt by Sohail Abbas whose powerful drag flick had goalkeeper George Bazeley well beaten.Australia regained the lead in the 44th minute through a field goal by Glenn Turner, only for Rahan Butt draw Pakistan level with an equaliser on 61 minutes sending the match into added-time. Both teams had their chances to score the golden goal but it was Australia who prevailed through a Ciriello winner to give Australia their sixth Sultan Azlan Shah Cup title. Pakistan's manager K. M. Junaid was happy with the performance of the players but was anguished at his side's failure to take their chances to grab the winner.
"It was a good showing by the players and they played one of the best matches here. It shows that despite having a young team we can play good hockey and the young players are maturing fast," he said. Pakistan had the consolation of adding two individual awards to their silver medal. Shakeel Abbasi was named the best player of the tournament while Sohail Abbas was the joint top scorer with India's Rupinder Singh at six goals each. Meanwhile, Great Britain bounced back from a lethargic start to beat New Zealand 4-2 and finish third in the tournament held in Ipoh, the capital of northern Perak state.
