Bhubaneswar: Hosts India played out a hard- fought 1-1 draw against England in their second practice match at the flood-lit Kalinga Stadium here, Tuesday.
England took the lead early in the sixth minute with forward Mark Gleghorne scoring from a penalty corner. However, the joy was short-lived as four minutes later Gurjant Singh levelled the score with a brilliant field goal. India thus remained unbeaten in both the warm-up games they played.
Even though it was a friendly encounter, coach Sjoerd Marjine watched the proceedings carefully with a special eye on Birendra Lakra. In the absence of Sardar Singh, who has been ‘rested’ for the tournament, local boy Birendra is expected to play the role of a holding defender in the midfield. Marijne was seen closely monitoring the workload being taken by Birendra.
In spite of the match lacking competitive flavour, the England players at times, did rattle the Indian defence. The hosts will have to tighten up their back-line if they are to do well against defending champions Australia when the two sides face on the opening day of the tournament, December 1.
Double silver
Orissa swimmer Pratyasha Ray has won two silver medals at the ongoing 63rd National School Games swimming championships in New Delhi. The Orissa swimmer first won a silver in the 100m backstroke with a time of 1:13.23 seconds and followed it up with a second-place finish in the 200m backstroke.
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