Johor Bahru (Malaysia): The Indian junior men’s hockey team started off their seventh Sultan of Johor Cup campaign with a hard-fought 3-2 victory against Japan courtesy a brace from Dilpreet Singh at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium here, Sunday.
Dilpreet Singh (11th and 53rd minutes) and Sukhjeet Singh (41st) scored the goals for India, while Kyohei Ogawa (23rd and 31st) scored a brace for Japan.
India started the match on a positive note as the young lads displayed some fine form with constant attacking on their Japanese counterparts in the first quarter. It was until in the 11th minute that India’s efforts were rewarded when Dilpreet gave India the lead after the Japanese defence failed to clear the ball.
However, the Japanese fought back in the second quarter gaining control of the ball possession and were awarded a penalty corner in the 23rd minute. The ball hit the foot of an Indian player inside their circle and Ogawa did no mistake to convert the penalty to draw Japan level.
With the scores level the Japanese continued their good rhythm of play going into half time and they maintained it thereafter with Ogawa scoring his second of the match through a field goal in the first minute after the restart to give Japan a 2-1 lead.
However, the Indian team showed their character and came back strongly in the latter part of the third quarter with Sukhjeet getting the equaliser through a penalty corner in the 41st minute to level the scores at 2-2.
Dilpreet scored the winner in the 53rd minute scoring his second of the match to give India a morale-boosting win before they face Malaysia, Oct 23.
indo-asian news service
