India lose to Pak 3-6 in Champions Challenge in Salta Argentina

Indian went down to Pakistan by 3-6 last night in Champions Challenge 2009 in Salta, Argentina.

The match was broadcast LIVE on Ten Sports. No doubts, it was Pakistan all over the place most of the time.
From the very begining, Pakistan made their intentions clear.
6 defenders and a awesome pass to Rehan Butt in the 2nd minute, Butt found the gate between Adrian's feet. This put India on defensive right away.

Few minutes later, getting a PC, they way Mahadik converted in the 8m, showed a lot of promise from Indians. But in the 1st half, thereafter, it was always Pakistan in control most of the time.

It was a treat watching Rehan Butt 2nd goal from the right of the net. Although he was very well marked and equally covered by Goalkeeper, the way he smacked the ball is nothing but insolence. His 2 goals are exemplary of his mercilessness and arrogance.

On the contrary Indians frontline lacked that confidence and Pakis were never desperate while defending either. There were moments when Indians were charging quickly towards to the Pakistan's D, but Pakistan defense line had their role defined crystal clear.

With a PC conversion by Sohail Abbas, it was 3-1 and Pakistan's shoulders were high as the players went for a lemon break.

The 4th goal scored by Haseem Khan was another one that must have made Pak fans jump from their seats.

Towards the last 10m, the Indian defensive looked tired. This was evident by the way Dhananjay Mahadik conceeded a short corner to Pakistan.
Few minutes later, as the score read 4-1, Prabhjot Singh hit the ball on the defender's foot, earning a short corner for India. The style of his shot outlined the state of Indian team, i.e. desperate. Diwakar Ram didn't make any mistake and the score was 4-2.

At certain moments, it was interesting to see that India was very much in attack and in control of the ball in the striking circle. But what came to Pak's rescue was their flawless man to man marking at this time.

2 defenders, 2 forwards, goalkeeper lying few yards away from the goal post, and 1 defender acting as a goalkeeper and Rehan Butt's brilliance was the scene at the time 5th goal.

Compared to the past, Indians passing was much better and there were no empty slap shot on the top of the D. However, Indians looked defensive and were edgy doing that. Pakistan, certainly, outplayed India as far as energy levels and capacity to cover the whole ground is concerned.

The gaps between Indian defensive line and the linksmen also was huge at times.
The interesting aspect of the the match was the number of Field Goals that Pakistan netted during this match; 4. Whereas, India got all their 3 goals from Penalty Corners.

All in all, Pakistan go into the finals with their heads high and blooming confidence levels. Let's see how they fare against the Black Sticks.

Here's the most interesting aspect of this tournament. 6 teams qualified for the Champions Trophy. These teams happen to be World's top 6 teams.
Champions Challenge has 8 lower ranked teams. Here's how they rank.

7th Pakistan
8th New Zealand
9th Belgium
10th Argentina
11th Canada
12th India
13th China
15th South Africa

Now, see the line up of Champions Challenge finals: It is Pakistan v New Zealand; very much in line with the FIH rankings.
This means India stands 9th or 10th in World Hockey. The same is true for Argentina.
So, more or less, didn't FIH rankings predict the results of Champions Challenge?