India clinch series against The Dutch
amsterdam — Gurjant Singh and Mandeep Singh scored a goal apiece as a resolute Indian men’s hockey team overcame world No. 4 Netherlands 2-1 in an exciting encounter.
Led by Manpreet Singh, the team on Monday night featured nine players from the junior team, but still beat an experienced Netherlands squad through goals from Gurjant (4th minute) and Mandeep (51).
India, thus, won the threematch series.
India straightaway sought to put pressure on the home team and the positive intent worked as they drew first blood through a penalty corner awarded in the fourth minute.
While it was Varun Kumar who attempted the dragflick which was padded away by the Dutch keeper, Gurjant was quick to pick up the rebound and work his reverse stick magic to put the ball high up into the net and score his first international goal for the men’s side.
India continued the strong attack as they made forays into the striking circle. Armaan Qureshi made a great attempt to take India’s lead to 2-0 with a shot on goal but it went slightly wide.
Though the Dutch tried to make amends when they won a penalty corner in the early minutes of the second quarter, the flick was brilliantly saved by India goalkeeper Akash Chikte.
That didn’t deter the Dutch side who attempted a full press and even put India under pressure by winning three more PCs, but they could not make the opportunities count with Chikte staying up to the challenge.
With a 1-0 lead, the third quarter saw Netherlands make desperate attempts to come back into the game but India absorbed the pressure well, only to execute a stronger defensive structure that kept the Dutch from scoring.
The final 15 minutes saw India increase their intensity in attack with Gurjant winning a PC, but it was saved.
The following minute saw Sumit win a PC for India, and this time they tried a different variation that worked like magic with striker Mandeep deflecting into the goal to double India’s lead to 2-0. — PTI