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PARIS: Harmanpreet Singh saved his best for last as an error-prone India left it late to salvage a point against Argentina in their second group game. The men's hockey team, who secured the points in the opening game against New Zealand with less than 120 seconds on the clock, were once again below par against an opposition they would have been expected to beat.

To be fair to India, they did have chances to open the scoring and multiply their advantage but Argentina, the 2016 champions in Rio de Janeiro, drew first blood in the 22nd minute via Lucas Martinez. In hindsight, PR Sreejesh should have probably saved that shot. The team created yet more penalty corners (in all, they had 10 penalty corners but converted only one) but Argentina continued to deny them. In the stands, they had support from Rahul Dravid, who has been out and about, watching Indians in action.

After the half-time break, Argentina had some dangerous counter-attacking chances to double their lead but they were thwarted. In the 36th minute, India had a big let-off as Casella Schuth missed a penalty stroke following a penalty corner.

With the game in danger of slipping away, India even removed Sreejesh from the scene as they went in search of a leveller. It finally came via Harmanpreet's smartly taken corner, a daisy-cutter which beat the Argentine rushers and keeper for pace before sounding the board. With more dangerous opponents lying in wait — India finish their group assignments with games against Belgium and Australia after an encounter against Ireland — this could be a priceless point. For the moment, they are in third place with three games to go.

"We created a lot of chances," Harmanpreet said after the match. "Finishing is where we need to do better."

Lakshya is off the mark, again.

Lakshya Sen put Sunday's disheartening news to one side as he beat Julien Carraggi 21-19, 21-14 in what was essentially a must-not-lose match. Sen had already won one match in Group L but after Kevin Cordon withdrew, this group had become a three-man group, with only one going through. With Jonathan Cristie's win over Carraggi earlier in the week, Sen could ill afford any hangover from Cordon's withdrawal. And he did just that after overcoming some initial hiccups.