Indian hockey colts settle for silver after loss to Britain
Johor Bahru (Malaysia) : The Indian junior mens hockey team settled for the silver medal after losing 2-3 to Britain at the 8th Sultan of Johor Cup 2018 here on Saturday.
Britain had beaten the Mandeep Mor-led squad in the Round Robin stage too.
India made a strong start to their final encounter with an early penalty corner opportunity. The effort was brilliantly capitalised in the re-take by Vishnukant Singh in the 4th minute.
Britain were quick to overcome the 0-1 deficit as they equalised in the 7th minute through Daniel West's field goal.
While the second quarter was evenly fought between the two teams as they challenged each other with good playing structure and tested each other's defensive abilities, India unfortunately could not covert the chances they created in the striking circle.
Britain upped the ante in the third quarter as they built on a strong attack, making several openings in the striking circle. They scored two crucial goals in the 39th minute and 42nd minute through James Oates, which changed the course of the match.
A 3-1 lead gave Britain the edge going into the final quarter. Though India's Abhishek scored a goal in the 55th minute, the team could not recover from the goals they conceded in the third quarter and eventually had to settle for the silver.