After beating USA in the previous match, Indian men’s team posted a 3-1 win over Great Britain in their fourth practice match ahead of the Fintro Hockey World league Semi-Final 2015.The Indian team opened their account in the first minute of the match when midfielder Gurbaj Singh stormed into the opponent’s D and hit the ball into the goal-box without giving any chance to British defenders.
Motivated by the goal, the Indian players kept on attacking and defender Devindar Sunil Walmiki extended the lead when his shot found the net during a raid in the 12th minute.After eight minutes (20th minute), forward Akashdeep Singh scored the third goal.Trailing by 0-3, Great Britain scored the consolation goal in 28th minute and the match finished at 3-1 in favour of India.
Indian defenders displayed a brilliant performance and denied any penalty corner to the opponents.India will clash against France in their opening match of the tournament on June 20.Working on defending PC’s: SreejeshIn preparation, goalkeeper PR Sreejesh has been working extra hours to strengthen his skills in cutting down opponents’ chance of scoring through penalty corners.
“In a fast-paced game and with the new rules, penalty corners have become goal-scoring opportunities. Everything happens in a fraction of a second and one bad reaction can take the match away from you. Goalkeepers need to be very attentive and quick to anticipate the shots. We are improving ourselves in this area and our coaching staff are working extra-hours on it,” he said.
“Coach Paul van Ass stresses on the improvement in penalty corners and we are trying-out new strategies to restrict goals. Being a key member of the strategies, I am also working on my agility and anticipation skills. I am happy with our progress in this area,” added Sreejesh.