LAHORE, Dec 12: Pakistan roared back from a goal down to notch up a face-saving 3-2 victory over arch-rivals India to clinch the third consecutive Champions Trophy bronze at the National Hockey Stadium on Sunday.

The ending was virtually a replay of previous two editions when Pakistan gave inconsistent and erratic performance in league matches and again met the Indians in the third place playoff to win the bronze.

Sandeep Singh netted through a lightning push on the first penalty corner to open the scoring for India that gave Pakistan a mighty fright in the second minute of the game.

Pakistan took two minutes to put the game on an even keel, Sohail Abbas firing a low drag-flick past India goalkeeper Adrian D'Souza who had recovered from a hamstring injury he suffered against New Zealand.

Although Pakistan nailed the Indians with free-flowing attacking hockey, they missed several goal-scoring chances as Adnan Maqsood fed Shakeel Abbasi who squandered chances.

Pakistan could not get rid of lack of finish despite running Indian defenders into dizzy disarray with dribbling runs, while their weak passes and sluggish hittings were spoiling their moves.

Shabbir Hussain was frustrated after his weak try was easily blocked by D'Souza. But Pakistan goalkeeper Salman Akbar was equally impressive, producing two fine saves after Ignace Tirkey and Arjun Halappa tried through reverse hits.

Sandeep Singh who was operating down the right continuously squared a perfect cross only to see Sandeep Michael missing from close. Sohail, who could convert only once off four attempts out of seven penalty corners, was unnerved by an onrushing D'Souza on the second short corner in the 25th minute.

Following two failed penalty corner attempts, Pakistan finally went 2-1 up, Kashif Jawwad setting up Shakeel who tried with reverse flick which was deflected by a sprinting Rehan down the right in the 27th minute.

Shakeel again missed a sitter off a Rehan cross, while Sandeep Singh sent the ball wide off target in the dying seconds of the first half. Sandeep Singh could not be blamed for failure on the third short corner 10 minutes into the second session as the ball could not be stopped, while Shabbir was again the culprit wasting a Ghazanfar Ali cross.

Shakeel dodged past two defenders before a feeble effort by D'Souza. However, Shakeel averted danger during India's fifth penalty corner. A three-touch move generated by the player of the match Pakistan captain Waseem Ahmad saw, Rehan distribute for Shakeel who again missed the gilt-chance.

D'Souza unnerved Sohail on the sixth penalty corner, but Pakistan eventually netted their third off an indirect Mudassir Ali try in the 54th minute. Breathing down the neck, India reduced the margin through Sandeep Singh in the 65th minute and could have equalised had Salman not thwarted a Halappa attack two minutes before time.

The Indians must be blaming themselves for failing to stop the ball on the fifth short corner that prevented Sandeep Singh from scoring a minute before the end. New Zealand were relegated after Germany scored a 2-1 victory in the fifth place playoff, thanks to two-goal Florian Keller. Keller netted in the 43rd and 53rd minutes, while Bevan Hari scored for New Zealand in the 69th minute.

PAKISTAN: Salman Akbar, Mudassir Ali, Ghazanfar Ali, Waseem Ahmad (captain), Dilawar Hussain, Rehan Butt, Sohail Abbas, Zeeshan Ashraf, Shabbir Hussain, Adnan Maqsood, Shakeel Abbasi, Kashif Jawwad, Mohammad Saqlain, Nasir Ahmad, Tariq Aziz, Adna Zakir.