Spirited India hold Australia
CONVINCING Mandeep Singh and Jeremy Hayward score in thrilling 11 draw after Germany blank England 20
BHUBANESWAR: India celebrated skipper Manpreet Singh’s 200th international appearance in style, holding world No 2 Australia to a 1-1 draw in their opening game of the Hockey World League Final here.
It’s an encouraging result for the hosts as this is the second time they split points with the defending champions in 14 meetings, of which Australia have won 11.
Mandeep and Jeremy Hayward scored a goal each for their sides at the Kalinga Stadium, which was filled even before the start of Friday’s first match between England and Germany, which the latter won 2-0.
On Saturday, Germany play Australia in their second Pool B match, whereas England will be up against hosts India.
India accelerated the pace from the first minute of play but missed several chances. Gurjant Singh had an open goal but hit goalkeeper Tyler Lovell with a reverse shot.
He also missed a similar chance in the next minute, finding Lovell again, who stood like a rock under the bar.
Despite the missed chances, Manpreet and Co dominated the proceedings. Things didn’t change after change of ends, but Mandeep finally brought smiles in the 20th minute.
Manpreet pushed the ball to Lalit Upadhyay, who passed back and the skipper struck a reverse hit before falling to his right (1-0). But the joy was short lived as in the next minute Hayward converted Australia’s second penalty corner.
The equaliser slowed down India’s pace but their defenders, combining with Rupinder Singh, Harmanpreet Singh and Manpreet, kept teasing the Kookaburras with solid clearances.
The two teams tried their best to change the scoreline but to no avail. Australia missed four penalty corners while India missed
IT’S AN ENCOURAGING RESULT FOR THE HOSTS AS THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THEY SPLIT POINTS WITH THE DEFENDING CHAMPIONS
two.
GERMANY WIN 2-0
Earlier in the day, Germany defeated England to kick off their campaign. Mats Grambusch drew first blood in the 19th minute, guiding an accurate push from Niklas Bruns from inside the circle into goal.
Germany doubled the lead in the 25th minute through Christopher Ruhr, who shot the ball home from the left after his shot ricocheted from the goalkeeper’s pads.