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In the last league match of tournament, India managed to hold Netherlands to a 1-1 draw and qualified for the finals of the 37th edition of Champions Trophy 2018 played at Breda, Netherlands on Saturday. It was an amazing performance by both teams who displayed brilliant hockey.
The first quarter saw brisk hockey by the Netherlands team who attacked the Indian goal time and again but the Indian defence and goalkeeper Sreejesh was solid and did not allow the goal. India earned a penalty corner in the 12th minute that was saved by the Netherlands defence and score remained 0-0.
In the second quarter too, both teams had equal chances of taking the lead but could not convert into any goal. P Sreejesh was the savour for India with some brilliant saves. Netherlands earned multiple penalty corners at the end of 2nd quarter but Indian goalkeeper did not allow them to penetrate the goal post. The scores at the end of 1st half, were 0-0.
Dutch team continued their aggressive intent in the third quarter. The Indian team had chances of scoring field goals but the Netherlands defence was rock solid. The third quarter saw superb hockey from both sides but the scores remained at 0-0.
India earned a penalty corner, Harmanpreet Singh hit a powerful shot that rebounded from the goalkeeper and Mandeep Singh gave second shot and converted into a goal to give India a lead in the 47th minute. The Netherlands team attacked with lots of purpose. In the 54th minute, a brilliant reverse flick by Brinkman deceived the goalkeeper to equal the score at 1-1. 2 minutes before the hooter, Hertzberger scored a field goal but the umpire decided to review it and that goal was disallowed and instead a free hit outside the D was awarded.
It was a superb game of hockey by both teams. Finally India held Netherlands to 1-1 draw. In a repeat of 2016 Champions Trophy finals, India will take on Australia in the finals tomorrow.
