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London: The Indian men’s hockey team registered a spectacular victory by defeating its arch-rival Pakistan by a huge margin of 7-1 in the second match of the London leg of the FIH Pro League. Despite lagging behind in the beginning of the match, the Indian team made a strong comeback and scored seven consecutive goals and won the match in a one-sided manner.

Sukhjit Singh (20th minute), Harmanpreet Singh (26th), Hardik Singh (34th), Jugraj Singh (35th), Abhishek (41st), Raj Kumar Pal (44th) and Dilpreet Singh (54th) scored goals for India. Midfielder Hardik Singh was chosen player of the match for his excellent performance.

Pakistan got the lead in the beginning

The match started at a fast pace. With a brilliant effort by Mandeep Singh, India got its first penalty corner in the first 90 seconds, but the team could not convert it into a goal. After this, Pakistan won a penalty corner in the 13th minute. Despite India taking a video referral, the decision went in Pakistan’s favor and captain Abu Bakar Mahmood scored through a drag-flick to give his team a 1-0 lead.

IND vs PAK Hockey, PC- IANS (SOCIAL MEDIA)

India’s strong comeback in the second quarter

In the second quarter, the Indian team took control of the match with excellent passing and aggressive play. Pakistan suffered a blow in the 18th minute when Ahmed Nadeem left the field after being hit on the face by a pass from his own teammate Ali Ghazanfar.

Soon after, India got a penalty corner, where Sukhjit Singh brilliantly converted Harmanpreet Singh’s drag-flick into the goal to make the score 1-1 in the 20th minute. Six minutes later, Harmanpreet Singh scored a goal from the penalty corner to give India a 2-1 lead at half time.

India’s complete dominance in the second half

The Indian team continued its aggressive game in the second half also. In the 34th minute, after getting two consecutive penalty corners, India got a penalty, which Hardik Singh converted to make the score 3-1.

After this, Pakistan got two consecutive penalty corners, but the Indian defense failed both the attempts. After excellent coordination between Dilpreet Singh and Sukhjit Singh in the counter attack, Jugraj Singh increased the lead to 4-1 by scoring a goal in the 35th minute.

India took a big lead by scoring consecutive goals

India continued to attack and in the 41st minute, Abhishek scored a brilliant field goal on a pass from Sukhjit Singh to make the score 5-1. Raj Kumar Pal took advantage of the rebound and scored the sixth goal on one of the four consecutive penalty corners at the end of the third quarter.

In the last quarter, the Indian team continued attacking while maintaining defensive discipline. Dilpreet Singh made the victory memorable by scoring India’s seventh goal in the 54th minute. Pakistan were awarded two penalty corners in the dying moments of the match, but an excellent save from experienced midfielder Manpreet Singh ensured India’s emphatic 7–1 victory.

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