Paris: What an incredible start to the Olympics for India’s men’s hockey team! On Saturday, they defeated fierce rival New Zealand 3-2 in a Pool B match at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Sam Lane and Simon Child scored for the Black Sticks, while Mandeep Singh (24′), Vivek Sagar Prasad (34′), and Harmanpreet Singh (59′-pen) scored goals for India.
On Saturday, the Men in Blue’s never-say-die attitude was evident. In the 60-minute match, they returned twice to maintain their hopes of making it to the quarterfinals.
Playing in front of a crowded house at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium was an exciting beginning. India dominated the first quarter of the game, controlling the ball and launching offensive bursts spearheaded by Olympic debutant Abhishek that caused New Zealand all kinds of issues early on. He even had an excellent opportunity to score, but Dominic Dixon, the goaltender for New Zealand, made a strong stop.
India lost momentum halfway through the quarter as they gave up a goal through Sam Lane’s PC in the eighth minute. Riding high on a solid injection, Lane kept it low and aimed to Shreejesh’s right. His effort was effective, giving New Zealand a 1-0 advantage.
However, Mandeep Singh’s incredible goal in the second quarter allowed India to rally. Harmanpreet’s powerful drag flick almost forced the New Zealand defence to make a straightforward save, but he showed incredible mental foresight to pick up the ball. To get India back into the game, he nicked it at close range.
India’s performance in this quarter was a little uneven, which allowed New Zealand to intercept passes and launch counterattacks, but the Indian defence held firm to keep the game going.
In the third quarter, Vivek Sagar Prasad gave India the lead with a goal after an exciting first half. After the ten-minute half-time break, they had started strongly, with Mandeep and Abhishek leading a productive attack, but Vivek performed admirably to take over and see the task through.
Though this shot was referred to the third umpire, India was eventually awarded the goal, giving India a hard-earned 2-1 lead. The third quarter also saw some incredible saves by experienced India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, keeping India ahead of New Zealand.
The last quarter lived up to the billing of a fighting contest. It was intense, edge-of-the-seat action. Only a couple of minutes into the fourth quarter, India earned a fine PC—thanks to Abhishek. But Dickson blocked Amit Rohidas’s flick.
New Zealand kept the pressure on India with their resilience. They won back-to-back PCs, and Simon Child did well to put New Zealand back in the game with his 53rd-minute equaliser.
With three minutes of play left, Sukhjeet won India a much-needed PC. After two takes, India was awarded a stroke. India captain Harmanpreet was on target this time, making it a dramatic 3-2 lead with the clock ticking away. With a little over 60 seconds remaining on the clock, New Zealand made some valiant attacks but to no avail, as India walked away with the crucial winning points.
India will take on Rio Olympics gold medallist Argentina on Monday at 1815 hrs IST in their second Pool B match.
–IANS
