Pak hockey coach says finishing above India is some 'respite'

Pakistan hockey coach Khwaja Junaid has said finishing the London Games as the best Asian team and above arch rivals India are the only consolations for them.

Pakistan edged out South Korea 3-2 to finish seventh in the hockey event of the London Olympics, which is an improvement on Beijing 2008 by one place.

Junaid lamented the team's failure to qualify for the semi-finals, but remained satisfied over it maintaining continental domination.

"At least we return as the best-ranked Asians. Korea finished eighth, while India will be avoiding a bottom-place finish. This has proved our Asian supremacy which we gained with a gold medal at the Asian Games two year ago," The Express Tribune quoted Junaid, as saying.

"There's always a sort of competition against India and finishing ahead of them is a respite. We were going well before the match against GB. Australians were favourites but we had a chance of winning against Britain. But there are no excuses for the huge loss against Australia as the players totally failed against them," he added. (ANI)