PAKISTAN made a great impact on the 17th edition of the Azlan Shah Cup when they thrashed New Zealand 6-3 in Ipoh yesterday.

And the toast of the day was Rehan Butt, who scored four goals, and made his team the early favourites to clinch the trophy.

Pakistan were in a mean mood yesterday and had New Zealand in trouble even though they were trailing 0-1 by the sixth minute.

New Zealand skipper Phillip Burrows' reverse stick attempt was like a training show, but Pakistan goalkeeper Salman Akbar failed to stop the floating attempt.

But that was as far as the Kiwis got, as Pakistan raised their tempo and equalised in the 11th minute when Rehan connected with a cross from Muhammad Saqlain.
The Kiwis were punished again three minutes later when Shakeel Abbassi scored after receiving a pass from Rehan. New Zealand were back-paddling after that and Pakistan sent them deeper into the abyss in the 28th minute when Saqlain got his team's third.

New Zealand looked like they were in for a thrashing as a brilliant field goal from Rehan in the 30th minute made it 4-1. But the Black Sticks are made of sturdier stuff and narrowed the deficit with a penalty corner goal from Hayden Shaw in the 33rd minute.

Hayden was again the point-man for the Kiwis after the break. He got his penalty corner brace in the 47th minute, and suddenly the match was blown wide open with the score 4-3.

But Rehan had other ideas and got his hat-trick off a goalmouth melee in the 60th minute, and just as regulation time was up, he scored his fourth.

In an earlier match, Canada made an impressive start when they edged Belgium 1-0 in a bruising match.

The Canadian goal was scored by Matthew Guest in the 50th minute off a field attempt, and then did enough to hold onto the slim lead for three vital points.

As for Belgium, it was their second defeat after losing 2-1 to Argentina on Thursday.

Both teams have qualified for the Olympics with Canada beating Argentina in the Pan-American Games, while Belgium defied the odds to beat World No 1 Germany in the European Championships bronze medal fight.