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PREVIEW: Antwerp, Belgium: After an unconvincing 3-2 win over France, India seek an improved performance as they face Poland in a pool A contest of the Hockey World League (HWL) Semi-Final at the Brasschaat Municipal Park on Tuesday. World No.9 India required Ramandeep Singh’s 59th minute goal to edge past world No.18 France on Saturday. Their defence looked shaky and the strikers lacked in finishing. [caption id=“attachment_1849045” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
File photo of Indian Hockey Team. AP[/caption] Going by Poland’s performance in the first match where they put up a brave show against four-time World Cup winners Pakistan before going down 1-2, Paul van Ass-coached India need to play with much more caution. Moreover, in the last match between the eight-time Olympics champions India and Poland, the former witnessed a bitter history. India were leading the crucial league match 1-0 in the Sydney Olympic games and were almost close to sealing their place in the semi-final, when Poland’s Tomasz Cichy scored an equaliser in the dying moment and stopped India from getting into the last four. The result was disheartening for that Indian team and this time, the Sardar Singh-led side is confident of not repeating the history. “The defeat in Sydney Olympic is still fresh in many hockey players and we will not repeat the mistakes made in the match. We will continue our strategy of keeping the ball possession on our side and play aggressively till the last minute,” Sardar said in a release. “The win against France boosted our morale and we have set our feet in Antwerp. We will play for the win only. “Poland is a good team and if they are in the Semi-Final that means they have some quality players in their team. We can’t afford to take them lightly at any moment.” The biggest positive for India from the last match was centre-half Sardar, 28. He looked at his best and was light in movements as he played crucial roles in two of the goals scored by the 2014 Asian Games champions. Along with Sardar, midfielders Gurbaj Singh, Dharamvir Singh, Chinglensana Singh and young Lalit Upadhyay will try to create opportunities for forwards Ramandeep, Akashdeep Singh, Nikkin Thimmaiah, Devindar Sunil Walmiki and Yuvraj Walmiki. The defence line-up will be formed by Rupinder Pal Singh, Birendra Lakra, Manpreet Singh and vice-captain P.R. Sreejesh will be on the goal. “The first match was a good one for us and we will continue our form in the next match. We are not considering Poland as minnows because they have some noticeable talents who are a cause for worry for us. We will stick to our strategies of the previous match but will make some changes in the team combinations,” India chief coach van Ass said. “We have some good young players and I want to give them more opportunities. Having said that, we will not give any chance to Poland to dominate the match and we are looking for a win against them.” IANS
HWL as it happened: Goals from Walmiki brothers and Sardar give India easy 3-0 win over Poland
India take on Poland in the second match of the HWL Semifinals in Belgium. Can Sardar Singh’s make it two wins out of two? Follow live.
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On that note, its goodbye from us here at Firstpost. Hope you enjoyed the coverage. Join us again on June 26, at 19:30 IST for the much-anticipated INDIA v PAKISTAN match.
Goodnight, folks!
There is one more stick these guys are good with: The selfie stick!
SUMMARY:
So India warm-up for the *BIG MATCH* against arch-rivals Pakistan with a convincing, dominating performance against a good Poland side. Paul Van Ass would be concerned about the team not converting from any of the three penalty corners but the performance was clinical in every other department. The final shot count was 14 to 2 in favour of India. Silky finishes from Walmiki’s – young and old – and a stinging hit from Sardar ensure India maintain their winning start in Antwerp.
This is how POOL A looks right now.
Like most people are..
The hooter goes off signalling the end of a comfortable, dominating evening for India. Yuvraj Walmiki, Sardar Singh, and Devindar Walmiki with the goals.
FULL TIME: INDIA 3 – 0 POLAND!
Harsha making good use of his down time.
At the end of the second quarter, India with a 1-0 lead over Poland. Sardar’s men started on the front foot but the first big chance fell to Poland off a Penalty corner which was saved by Sreejesh. Quickly after that India took the lead through Yuvraj who kept his cool to flick it over the goalkeeper. India could not convert their first penalty corner at the end of the half.
Entertaining match so far.
Matuszak with the save. It was a good injection from India, the shot was well hit by Manpreet but equally well saved. Not very different from Sreejesh’s save from earlier.
And that will be HALF TIME in Antwerp.
It really was a good finish from Yuvraj. Rushed to celebrate with his younger brother Devindar immediately after scoring.
The Walmiki brothers have a goal each in the tournament so far. Yuvraj is alert to a deflection from Polish defender’s stick. Adjusts nicely and lifts the ball over the ‘keeper. Opportunistic goal, but excellent finish.
India lead 1-0 in Q2 with 5 mins to go.
Great Save SREEJESH from a well-executed penalty corner. That came at him in 114 kph. Steps forward and flings himself to the right. Great reflexes from the Indian custodian.
Still 0-0 in Q2.