Muristek
Bhubaneswar, February 26
The Indian men's hockey team made a remarkable comeback from three goals down to eke out a sensational 5-4 win over Spain in an edge-of-the-seat thriller in the FIH Pro League here today.
Up against world no. 9 Spain, Tokyo Olympics bronze medallists India were stunned when the visitors took a 4-1 lead through a hat-trick from skipper Marc Miralles (20th, 23rd, 40th minutes) and Pau Cunill (14th). But the hosts scored through Harmanpreet Singh (15th, 60th), Shilanand Lakra (41st), Shamsher Singh (43rd) and Varun Kumar (55th) to register one of the most memorable comebacks.
India now have registered four wins out of five outings in the Pro League. Both the teams will face-off against each other again on Sunday.
It was a pulsating first 15 minutes of the first-leg match that saw Spain secure their second penalty corner and Pau Cunill's powerful flick proved too good as the visitors took a 1-0 lead.
India responded 18 seconds from the end of first quarter when Harmanpreet found the back of the Spanish net with a fierce dragflick from the team's second penalty corner.
In the second quarter, a subdued India allowed Spain to break their defence on quite a few occasions. From one such move, Spain earned their third penalty corner which was converted by skipper Miralles.
Three minutes later, Mandeep Mor's dangerous play inside his own circle resulted in a penalty stroke and Miralles stepped up to make it 3-1.
After the change of ends, Spain kept knocking on India's door. Soon, Miralles completed his hat-trick in the 40th minute after he superbly clouted a rebound from a penalty corner to find the back of India's goal.
However, the Men in Blue forged their way back into the match in a span of three minutes by scoring two goals to reduce the margin to 3-4. Varun, making his 100th international appearance, drew parity with a terrific flick from a penalty corner .
Four seconds from the hooter, Harmanpreet converted a penalty stroke to hand India the win.
Unstoppable women
The Indian women's hockey team continued its unbeaten run by registering a hard-fought 2-1 win over Spain at the Kalinga Stadium today.
World No. 6 Spain took the lead in the 18th minute through a field goal from Marta Segu.
But India, ranked ninth in the world, responded immediately through a field strike from Jyoti before Neha Goyal stunned the Spaniards in the 52nd minute with another field goal.
Jyoti grabbed her first international goal.
This was India's third win in the league after having defeated China 7-1 and 2-1 in their opening two matches in Muscat earlier this month. They play Spain again in the second match of the double-leg tie here tomorrow. — PTI
Second-string teams for CWG
New Delhi: India would be sending its second-string hockey teams for both the men's and women's competitions at this year's Commonwealth Games (CWG) due to the short turnaround time between the Birmingham event and the Hangzhou Asian Games -- a qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The development was confirmed by a top Hockey India (HI) official. "We have three teams — India senior, India A and junior team — and we would be sending our 'A' teams for the Commonwealth Games this year because we don't want our main players to hit the peak just before the Asian Games, which is more important," the official said.