Tokyo Olympics 2020: India starts the campaign with a thrilling win over New Zealand

 The Indian men’s hockey team started the Tokyo Olympics campaign with a thrilling win over New Zealand in Pool A contest played at Tokyo on Saturday.

 

It was an aggressive start for the Indian men’s hockey team as they earned a penalty corner in the first minute but Rupinder Pal Singh's drag-flick went off the crossbar. New Zealand showed their mettle as they earned their first penalty corner as Kane Russell converted the penalty corner into a goal in the 6^th minute to give them a 1-0 lead.

The Indian forward missed a golden chance as Mandeep Singh hit a reverse flick above the goal post. India earned their 2^nd penalty corner but that was then given as a penalty stroke. Rupinder Pal Singh converted stroke into the goal in the 10^th minute to equalize the score at 1-1. The New Zealand team put pressure on the Indian defense by earning four successive penalty corners but none of them yielded results. The Indian attackers made a counterattacking move on the other side and could not convert into a goal. At the end of the first quarter, the scores were level at 1-1.

It was a good start by the Indian team in the 2^nd quarter as they put pressure on the Kiwis defense. Despite missing chances, India earned their 3^rd penalty corner via a review in the 26^th minute. Harmanpreet Singh put a forceful drag-flick to give India a 2-1 lead. The Indian team dominated the possession to end the first half at 2-1.

The Indian hockey team started the 3^rd quarter on a bright note as Harmanpreet Singh converted the penalty corner into a goal in 33^rd minute to give them a 3-1 lead. After the goal, the Indian team put pressure on New Zealand's defense with aggressive play as they earned a penalty corner via review but did not yield any results. The New Zealand team came back strongly in the last 5 minutes as Jenness scored a field goal from a good pass in the 43rd minute to reduce the margin to 2-3. Both teams played aggressive hockey as India ended the 3^rd quarter with a 3-2 lead.

It was another superb start by the Indian team who began with aggression earning a penalty corner in the 48^th minute but no decision was taken as the umpire called it no advice possible. Hayward produced a superb save from a direct shot by the Indian forward. The New Zealand team put enough pressure on the Indian defense as they earned a penalty corner with only 3 minutes left. After that, they earned 2 back-to-back penalty corners. In the dying minutes, India conceded another penalty corner but was brilliantly saved by P Sreejesh to help them start the tournament on a winning note.

India converted two penalty corners while New Zealand only could convert only 1. Both teams had equal possession and showed their class. In the other match of Pool, Australia defeated hosts Japan by 5-3.

India earned 3 important points in the opening match. They will take on Australia in their next match tomorrow.

 

India beat New Zealand in the opening match of the Tokyo Olympics Hockey