• Saturday, November 23, 2024

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India rebound in hockey at Tokyo, thrash Spain 3-0

Indian hockey players celebrate a goal against Spain at the Oi Hockey Stadium in Tokyo on July 27, 2021. (Photo by JEFF PACHOUD/AFP via Getty Images)

By: Shubham Ghosh

INDIA made a strong rebound in hockey at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday (27) when they thrashed Spain 3-0 in their third match at the Oi Hockey Stadium to pick three vital points and go to the second spot in the points table in Pool A.

Rupinder Singh scored two goals (15th and 51st minute) for India while Simranjeet Singh scored one (14th minute) as India overcame the shock they had against Australia in their previous game which they lost 1-7. The Aussies are at the top of the points table with three wins out of three. They have scored 17 goals so far but conceded only six.

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India rebound in hockey at Tokyo, thrash Spain 3-0
Spain’s Llorenc Piera (L) and India’s Simranjeet Singh vie for the ball during their men’s pool A match of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games field hockey competition, at the Oi Hockey Stadium in Tokyo on July 27, 2021. (Photo by JEFF PACHOUD/AFP via Getty Images)

India, ranked fourth in the world, beat New Zealand 3-2 their opening game on Saturday (24). Spain, ranked No.9, are yet to win a game in the contest and are at the sixth position in the table with just one point.

India will next take on Argentina, the reigning Olympic champions, on Thursday (29). Argentina are now at No.4 in the table with one win out of three games.

Manpreet Singh’s team played high-pressure hockey from the scratch against the Spanish opponents and dominated the possession in the initial 10 minutes even though they failed to create any real opportunities to score. They came close to scoring in the ninth minute but failed. Spain slowly got into the groove and got their first penalty corner in the 12th minute but could not transform it into a goal.

The Indians mounted a number of attacks thereafter and eventually Simranjeet scored which gave them the momentum to score two more and eventually bag the match to inch closer to the quarter-finals.

India have won gold at the Olympics eight times but haven’t won a medal at the quadrennial show since 1980.

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