Indian men’s hockey team fired in a goal two minutes from the final hooter through Ramandeep Singh to pull off a 3-2 win over France and begin their FIH World league Semifinals campaign on a winning note here on Saturday.
Ramandeep lunged forward to slam the ball into the France net in the 58th minutes courtesy the spadework of captain Sardar Singh to clinch the victory for India at the KHC Dragons Stadium here.
Asian Games champions India’s defence was given a harrowing time by the fast overlapping French strikers, who capitalised on counters to twice stun them in the first half.
Olivier Sanchez (third minute) and Simon Martin Brisac (43rd) lifted the French team through flash strikes and India scored twice in the space of four minutes through Manpreet Singh (26th) and Devindar Walmiki (29th) to bring to level terms.
The game was heading for a draw when captain Sardar sent in a reverse hit into the circle where Akashdeep Singh stopped it and the ball went toward the right where Ramandeep made no mistake with the opportunity in the 58th minute.
France stunned the Indians with an early goal in the third minute with unmarked striker Oliver Sanchez firing in from close range after getting the ball from the left in an otherwise crowded circle.
Indian striker Satbir Singh shot wide off the target at the other end and the story of mis-passing and wayward shooting thereafter gave France the lead at the end of the first quarter.
The French had another good look at the Indian goal in the 22nd minute on a counter-attack as Brisac created the opening by charging into the scoring zone, where Sanchez failed to capitalise on another chance off custodian P R Sreejesh’s pads.
India got the equaliser in the 26th minute from a penalty corner conversion by Manpreet Singh, who sent a low drag-flight into the left corner just past goalkeeper Martin Zylbermann’s reach.
Three minutes later, Sardar initiated an Indian move through his flank-changing pass from left that saw Dharamvir dart into the circle and send a diagonal pass for Devindar Walmiki to fire in. His stinging shot went in off the near post even as the French custodian tried to cover the angle.
The Indian defence had a torrid time in the third quarter during which France came back to draw parity in the 43rd minute when a collision at the top of the circle between striker Tom Genestet and Indian defender Gurmail Singh sent the ball to Brisac, whose firm drive beat Sreejesh to finish in the Indian goal.
Just when it seemed the French had denied India full point came the match-winner from Ramandeep with less than 100 seconds to go.
Women dominate yet lose
Indian women failed to capitalise on several openings and suffered a 0-1 loss to hosts Belgium in their opening match of the Hockey World league Semifinals here on Saturday.
A goal-line save by Stephanie de Groof from India’s first penalty corner in the 36th minute ensured that the Belgians held on to the lead they had earned just a minute ago from a penalty corner conversion at the other end.
Indian goalkeeper Savita saved two shots from De Groof before Belgian captain lieselotte van lindt capitalised on the rebound with a diagonal shot into the net in the 35th minute.
The Indian women, who had grimly held on against some early Belgian raids, forced their first penalty corner within a minute of conceding the goal. Deepika Kumari’s penalty corner drive was blocked by diving goalkeeper Aisling D’Hooghe, sending the rebound to captain Ritu Rani whose flick was heading into the goal, but for a diving clearance by De Groof.
The Indians, ranked one spot behind Behind Belgium’s number 12 world ranking, pushed hard and created some openings, but the equaliser eluded them in the Group B match.
Against a team that fell back to bolster their defence, India managed to force a penalty corner in the 42nd minute, but the set-piece was not executed well and the ball got cleared. The Indians had earlier successfully appealed for a back-stick to get a Belgian goal cancelled in the first quarter.
In the other Group B match, Gemma Flynn slammed four goals as New Zealand fired a dozen goals past Poland. World champions The Netherlands stamped their authority with a 11-0 triumph over France, who only on Friday were confirmed a spot in the tournament after Azerbaijan’s withdrawal, while Asian Games champions South Korea were held to a 1-1 draw by Italy in Group A.