Tauranga (New Zealand): A structured defence and clinical attacking moves saw India beat hosts New Zealand 3-1 in the final round robin match of the double-leg Four Nations Invitational hockey tournament at Blake Park here Saturday. The result helped India qualify for the final where they will face Belgium who beat Japan 4-1. India had lost 0-2 to Belgium in the group stage encounter.
It was India’s young brigade Harmanpreet Singh (2nd minute), Dilpreet Singh (21st) and Mandeep Singh (47th) who scored to ensure victory.
India’s mantra Saturday was to play aggressive and that’s exactly what they did right from the start. They got an early penalty corner after Mandeep was obstructed inside the ‘D’.
Harmanpreet stepped up for the drag-flick and he struck the ball with ferocity to beat opposition custodian Richard Joyce hands down.
The next few minutes saw India hold their defence with Rupinder Pal Singh, who was rested for the match against Belgium, leading the charge of defenders as their man-to-man marking was spot on, not allowing New Zealand to make easy forays into India’s circle.
Dilpreet, who had scored two goals in his first outing for the national side, was impressive when he picked up the assist to put the ball past the New Zealand goal post in the 21st minute, to double India’s lead.
Late into the third quarter, India conceded their first penalty corner which New Zealand’s Kane Russell converted. However, the visitors did not let go off the momentum and continued to attack the opposition goal.
Their efforts paid off when Mandeep picked up a long clearance from Rupinder, dribbled past two defenders and sounded the board with a powerful drive to maintain India’s two-goal advantage.
“We started the match much better today (Saturday) and I saw individual improvement. It’s important for the players to keep pushing themselves. I am particularly happy about today’s win because the team did a lot of analysing ahead of the match and their keenness to improve was evident,” chief coach Sjoerd Marijne, said after the game.
Agencies
