India paid dearly for lapses in defence as Pakistan shocked it 1-0 in the final to win the SAF Games football title at the Jinnah Stadium in Islamabad.
The winner came in the 29th minute through Abdul Aziz who exposed the chinks in the Indian defence that came up with a shaky performance in the match on Monday night.
After a series of exchanges between the rival players, the ball was in front of Indian defenders Gurpreet and Subash Mondal who took a long time in clearing it.
Pakistani striker Aziz, lurking around, took advantage of the situation latching on to the ball and flicking it in.
The Indians, who came to the tournament with a second-string team, were the favourite to win the match but they played without any plan in the whole of the first half.
The Pakistanis, on the other hand, were in an attacking mood right from the beginning.
Earlier, Sri Lanka defeated Bhutan 4-3 via tie-breaker in the bronze medal match.
India went to the half time trailing 0-1 and as the game resumed after the break they stepped on the gas in a bid to score the equaliser.
But the Pakistani defence stood firm, not allowing the Indians any chance to make any attempt on the post. In fact, the hosts hardly gave any scope to their desperate opponents to make any incisive move.
Pakistan also failed to grab a few chances that came their way to increase the lead.
Asia himself frittered away a couple of opportunities. On both the occasions hard working Zaidi Ahmed gave flawless passes to Asia to set the stage but the forward's weak shots were stopped by Indian custodian Subtasks.
On another occasion, Essay relayed the ball to Attic Ur Rehman and the latter drove the ball straight to the Indian goalkeeper.
In the closing stages too, Pakistan were thrustful although the Indians also showed glimpses of counter attack but the rival defense was more authoritative in its display.
Just before the final whistle, Pakistan almost scored but Essa's shot at the open post hit the cross bar.
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