The Indian men’s hockey team got off to a solid start as they beat Olympic Champions Argentina 4-3 in the first practice match at Buenos Ai...
The Indian men’s hockey team got off to a solid start as they beat Olympic Champions Argentina 4-3 in the first practice match at Buenos Aires on Tuesday.
For India, goals were scored by Nilakanta Sharma (16’), Harmanpreet Singh (28’), Rupinder Pal Singh (33’) and Varun Kumar (47’) while Leandro Tolini (35’ and 53’) and Maico Casella (41’) scored for the home team.
While both teams were slow to get off the blocks in the first quarter, India picked up pace in the second quarter with potential circle entries. It was Shilanand Lakra who was responsible for India’s first goal as his assist to Nilakanta Sharma helped him put the ball past Argentina’s goalkeeper in the 16th minute.
With an early 1-0 lead, India pushed the hosts on the backfoot with a strong attack. Though Argentina replied to India’s aggressive show by securing a PC in the following minutes, experienced India custodian PR Sreejesh kept the hosts from scoring an equaliser.
India’s forwardline in the meantime worked on beating the Argentine defence as they set up yet another scoring opportunity when Dilpreet Singh earned India a PC in the 28th minute. Harmanpreet Singh made no mistake in his attempt, as he took India’s lead to 2-0.
Argentina made a...
