 "FIH Pro League: How Harmanpreet Singh-led Indian men's team has fared so far in the tournament")
The average Indian hockey fan has been going through a mixed bag of emotions of late.
One the one hand, the women’s team failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics after missing out on gold in the Asian Games and failing to secure a top-three finish in the Olympic Qualifiers that took place in Ranchi in January. A month later, women’s team head coach Janneke Schopman would resign from the post after having a public fallout with the national federation.
Things haven’t been looking as gloomy for the men’s team, however. The Harmanpreet Singh-led side had won a historic bronze in the Tokyo Olympics and now stand a chance of pulling off another podium finish, having already qualified for the Paris Games this year by winning the Hangzhou Asian Games.
More recently, they’ve been having a solid run in the FIH Pro League where they currently find themselves at the third spot with 15 points to their name, winning three and drawing four while losing just game outright. Of their four draws, they were able to walk away with a bonus point by winning the penalty shootout on two occasions, including against current table leaders Netherlands.
Here’s a brief recap of how they’ve fared so far in the tournament:
**Defeated Spain 4-1**Harmanpreet slammed a brace as India began their FIH Pro League campaign on a clinical note with a 4-1 hammering of Ireland in their opening fixture. The India skipper converted a penalty corner in the opening quarter before scoring from the spot in the 20th minute. Jugraj Singh and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay also scored for the Indians while Marc Miralles scored Spain’s lone goal.
**Drew against Nethelands 2-2 (won shootout 4-2)**India extended their unbeaten start to the tournament despite facing a stiff challenge from the Netherlands. Veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh turned out to be India’s saviour with three fine saves while Harmanpreet and Hardik Singh scored to cancel out Jip Janssen and Koen Bijen’s strikes for the Dutch. Harmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay and Shamsher Singh would then be on target during the penalty shootout.
India’s first, and so far their only, outright loss came in a high-scoring encounter against Australia in which the Men in Blue blew a two-goal lead after finding themselves at 4-2 at half-time, conceding four goals in a row in the third and fourth quarters to suffer a 4-6 defeat. Harmanpreet collected another brace for himself by converting two PCs while Sukhjeet Singh and Mandeep Singh scored in the second quarter to put the Indians firmly on top. Aran Zalewski (40th), Lahlan Sharp (52nd), Jacon Anderson (55th) and Jack Welch (58th), however, would help Australia turn things around in style in the second half of the match after Blake Govers’ brace to help the Kookaburras walk away with a victory.
**Defeated Ireland 1-0**The Indians returned to winning ways with a 1-0 victory over Ireland in their subsequent outing. The Craig Fulton-coached side were headed for a draw, which would’ve been something of an upset for them given they’re ranked several places above the Irishmen on the FIH rankings. A final-minute strike off Gurjant Singh’s stick, however, ensured the Indians walked away winners. The match marked the end of India’s campaign in the Bhubaneswar.
India began the return leg in Rourkela by winning a thrilling penalty shootout, thus completing a double of sorts against the Spaniards. It was mainly down to experienced custodian Sreejesh’s heroics in the shootout that they ended up walking away with a bonus point after Jarmanpreet Singh and Abhishek’s strikes helped India cancel out Jose Basterra and Borja Lacalle’s strikes.
**Drew against Netherlands 1-1 (lost penalty shootout 4-2)**India and Netherlands would play out another draw in Odisha, this time scoring a goal less with Hardik scoring a 38th-minute equaliser after Floris Middendorp’s fourth-minute strike. While Araijeet Singh Hundal and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay scored for the home team, while Sukhjeet Singh and Shamsher Singh missed their shots as India walked out of a penalty shootout on the wrong side of the result for the first time in the ongoing tournament.
**Drew against Australia 2-2 (lost penalty shootout 3-0)**The two meetings between India and Australia couldn’t be more different. While the first match was a goalfest, the two sides played out a 2-2 draw in the subsequent meeting as India were held to a third consecutive draw in the Rourkela leg. And for a second successive time, India would end up losing a penalty shootout, failing to net even once while the Kookaburras struck all three.
**Defeated Ireland 4-0**India ended their home campaign with a commanding victory over Ireland. Unlike the previous meeting where Gurjant scored a last-minute winner, India already were 2-0 ahead at the end of the first quarter thanks to Nilakanta Sharma and Akashdeep Singh’s strikes. Gurjant would triple India’s lead shortly after half-time while Jugraj would collect one for himself in the final minute.
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