India defeat Great Britain by 3-1 in 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Cup
The Indian hockey team after losing a game in the hands of South Korea defeated Great Britain by two goals, 3-1 in the 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup played on Friday May 06 at the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Stadium in Ipoh, Malaysia. Rupinder Pal Singh
stole the show scoring all the three goals and made the victory possible for his team.
The two sides have played one match each, as Great Britain outplayed Malaysia by two goals, while India lost to South Korea by a single point.
Despite missing more than six experienced players, the Indian side bounced back into the event after it overwhelmed Great Britain. Rupinder, an inexperienced player of the junior team, was at his best and the real architect of the victory.
Both the teams started the game quite maturely, but the British squad was not reasonable in terms of their performance. After a hard-pressure game against the host side, they could not open the game quite comfortably. On the other hand, the Indian team commenced
the game intelligently and played with slow pace.
After missing some shots, India earned a penalty-corner in the 10th minute of the match. Rupinder struck a powerful shot into the corner of the British goal. James Fair, the custodian of the English side, did not find any chance to deny the attack.
After conceding a goal, the British players cranked up their offence and carried out numerous strikes against India. They earned three short-corners, but failed to capitalise the chances. Bharat Chhetri, the legendary goalie of the Indian team, denied all
the strikes brilliantly. Roshan Minz, another Indian attacker, managed to enter through the British circle, but his hit went wide of the goal-post. The first half of play concluded with India sitting on top by a single point, 1-0.
In the second set of play, the Indian team continued to dominate the field. After an end-to-end play, the Indian team earned another short-corner in the 55th minute of the match. Rupinder unleashed a powerful shot past Fair to double the tally.
Soon after two minutes, Rupinder completed his hat-trick by converting another short-corner through a drag-flicking shot. After taking the lead to three goals, the Indian side adopted defensive polices in order to maintain their lead.
The British strikers though carried out numerous attacks, but the Indian youngsters made some crucial saves. James Tindall managed to take the ball inside the circle and hit a low-flicking shot to the right corner of the goal. Within the next few minutes,
he found another chance, but his shot wend wide of the net. As the final horn sounded, the Indian team rode away the field with a convincing 3-1 victory.
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