Ben Collins writes exclusively for AFL Asia tracking the progress of the Asian 5 at the IC14.
Below Ben reports on Round 3 which was held on Saturday, 16 August 2014..
Round three of the International Cup was a “community round” with teams scheduled to play around Victoria on Saturday.
The Asian Five travelled around the state with games at Diggers Rest, Box Hill North, Craigieburn and Ballarat.
The third all-Asian game of the tournament saw Pakistan comfortably beat rivals India at Highgate Reserve in Craigieburn.
Imran Akhteyari kicked four goals for Pakistan as they used their size advantage to full advantage against an inexperienced Indian side.
China added to what was a great day for the Asian Five by narrowly beating Finland by four points in Ballarat.
China’s win coupled with Japan’s victory over Pakistan in the last round is a fantastic sign of the improvement made in the heart of Asia.
In other games, Indonesia was thrashed by France while Japan was well beaten by the much bigger Tongans.
These results mean there will be no Asian teams in the semi final stage of the tournament, but the Asian Five will still get the chance to go out on a good note and improve their ranking with games on Tuesday and Friday.
Pakistan is the highest ranked Asian team at 11th and will face the 6th placed Tongans on Tuesday with games returning to Royal Park.
Full fixtures and results can be viewed by clicking here.
