The Indian men’s hockey team produced a spirited effort to beat reigning world champions Germany 3-0 in its FIH Pro League 2023-24 match at the Lee Valley Hockey Stadium in London on Saturday.
Goals from Harmanpreet Singh (16′), Sukhjeet Singh (41′) and Gurjant Singh (44′) helped fifth-ranked India begin their UK leg of the tournament on a positive note.
With this win, India gained three points to remain third on the FIH Pro League points table behind the Netherlands and Argentina, respectively. The Tokyo Olympics bronze medallists have won five of their 13 matches this season.
There was plenty of action in the opening quarter with both teams matching each other strength for strength. While Sukhjeet Singh and Mandeep Singh stood tall in the forward line, Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh ensured Germany did not make the most of the penalty corners.
Starting the second quarter with the scoreboard reading 0-0, India made the first breakthrough thanks to skipper Harmanpreet Singh, whose precise strike to the left of German keeper Alexander Stadler found the back of the goal.
Some good defending backed by PR Sreejesh helped India go into the half-time break with a 1-0 lead.
India extended their lead in the third quarter through Sukhjeet’s clean finish in the 41st minute. Sukhjeet received the ball on the left flank and dribbled towards the circle to find Abhishek, who passed the ball back to Sukhjeet.
Three minutes later, Gurjant Singh scored India’s third goal after a superb assist by Jarmanpreet Singh.
With a comfortable 3-0 lead, India looked to end the game on a high in the fourth quarter. While India defended well, the young German side hunted for an elusive goal. Though the world champions won back-to-back penalty corners in the final 15 minutes, India held on defensively to keep a clean sheet.
India will face hosts Great Britain next in the FIH Pro League on Sunday.