India end 6th, title for Belgium
The Indian hockey team finished sixth in the FIH World League Round 3 after losing a tense play-off match on penalties to the higher-ranked Spain here on Sunday.
Young strikers Mandeep Singh and Akashdeep Singh missed their strokes as India went down 2-4 in the shootout after the teams were tied 2-2 in regulation time. Roc Oliva netted the crucial final penalty after Quico Cortes thwarted Mandeep’s effort which was followed by a mishit from Akashdeep.
In the final, Belgium registered a dramatic 7-6 (2-2) win over world number 1 Australia via sudden death.
Both the teams earned a direct qualification spot for next year’s World Cup.
Hosts Holland finished third, with a 4-1 win over New Zealand.
The Spaniards took the lead in the second minute of the game itself when Oliva latched on to a pass by Alex Casasayas and slotted the ball home to complete a flowing move which caught the Indian defence napping.
However, India turned the game on its head with two quick goals. First, it was Shivendra Singh (11th minute) who got a clean pass from V.R. Raghunath near the right post and he made no mistake in scoring the equaliser.
Then it was Mandeep who gave India the lead a minute later even before the Spanish team regathered themselves. Sandeep Singh ripped in a powerful cross from the right wing which Mandeep controlled at the back post and flicked the ball into the net for a 2-1 lead in India’s favour. From there on, both the teams played aggressively with the two goalkeepers being tested regularly.
The tempo of the game was same in the second half but Spain had an edge winning four corners. However, none of them led to goals.
Spain got the equaliser in the 56th minute when Davd Alegre powered his way into the circle and unleashed a powerful backhand shot that deceived the Indian goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh.
Both sides had chances to score more goals but failed to finish cleanly. — Agencies
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