Hockey juniors lose 3-4 in final shootout to Britain

JOHOR BAHRU: The Indian junior men’s hockey team ended runner-up in the Sultan of Johor Cup after losing nail-biting penalty shoot out 3-4 to Great Britain, here on Sunday.

The teams were level 2-2 after full time in the title encounter.

It was Great Britain that drew the first blood in the fifth minute through a penalty corner goal by Luke Taylor.

The Great Britain team who had earlier defeated India in the league matches seemed to be in control of their game until India were rewarded with a penalty corner in the 12th minute, which was beautifully converted into a goal by Harmanpreet Singh to draw parity.

The next 23 minutes in the first half saw a lot of attacks and counter attacks but neither of the teams could capitalise. The second half began with India pressing hard to take the lead and they were soon rewarded in the 42nd minute with Gurjant Singh pulling off an absolute stunner, giving India the much needed lead in the game. Great Britain however struck soon after in the 46th minute through Jack Turner to settle the score at 2-2.

Efficient goal keepers and a strong defense line ensured the match entered the penalty shootout stage. Great Britain finally edged past the Indian colts in the penalty shootout scoring 4 goals as opposed to India’s 3 goals, to be crowned as the new champions of the 5th Sultan of Johor Cup.