Hockey World Cup 2018, India vs South Africa: 5 Talking Points

Even though the 2018 FIH World Cup officially began with the inaugural match between Belgium and Canada, all eyes were set on the match between India and South Africa. Led by Manpreet Singh and coached by Harendra Singh, the spectators were expecting nothing less than an explosive start from the Indian side.

To everyone's delight, India didn't disappoint them either. Playing attacking hockey from the word go, they gave South Africa a run for their money by smashing two goals within the first quarter itself.

By the time the final hooter blared, India had crushed the South African challenge by an outstanding score of 5-0. While Simranjeet Singh scored twice for the Indian team, Mandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh and Lalit Upadhyay chipped in with a goal each.

Here are five interesting talking points from the match between India and South Africa.

#5 No let-up in intensity till the last second

No matter how brilliant the team looks on paper, the Indian team was once notorious in the late 90s and the early 2000s for crunching down in the dying seconds of any match, which has cost them major tournaments and titles more than once. Who can forget the way India lost a sure shot chance at the podium when they allowed Poland to score a goal at the Sydney Olympics 2000?

However, this time India left no such opportunity for the South Africans in the game. The well disciplined Indian team refused to allow South Africa any significant chance at scoring a goal for their side, keeping the slate clean, a rarity for any host team in the Men's Hockey World Cup.

On the other hand, South Africans looked completely clueless throughout the duration of the match. Not only were they unable to grasp the ball throughout the first half, they also failed to convert whatever chance they had to score a goal, as they failed to convert the three penalty corners that they received.

#4 Indian defence standing solid as a rock

Chinglensana Singh was one of the star players of the match

If India managed to keep a clean slate in their debut match of the Hockey World Cup, a major credit would go to the Indian defenders, who have been notorious otherwise as the Achilles' Heel of the Indian hockey team.

Often their clumsy defence had cost India major titles, one of the worst memories being that of Rio Olympics, where despite leading the first half, India squandered the lead and went down unceremoniously to Belgium in the quarterfinals.

Led by charismatic goalkeeper P R Sreejesh, who had it easy throughout, the Indian defenders played extremely well, buoyed by the vociferous cheers of the Indian crowd. One of the star defenders of this match was Chinglensana Singh, who was incidentally playing his 200th international match. He led the defence ably by denying South Africa even a minor breakthrough that could upset the Indian equations.

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#3 Clueless South African defence

Mandeep Singh scored the opening goal for India

One of the key features about the match was the clueless South African defence, that were left at their wits' ends throughout the match.

While Canada at least made enough efforts to save themselves a shameful drubbing at the hands of Belgium, it wasn't the case at all with South Africa. They suffered back to back goals in the very first quarter, and this was the assault that they could never recover from.

The only time South Africa had a serious chance of making a comeback was in the second quarter, when they denied India a chance to extend their lead. It wasn't until almost the end of the third quarter that India finally managed to break free from the grasp of the South African midfielders.

Even the three penalty corners that South Africa received failed to find the Indian goalpost as the strikers failed to convert. By the time the game had ended, South Africa had only a blank goal sheet for themselves.

#2 Attack from the first second

Unlike the previous editions, the Indian team attacked from the word go. Following the dictum of Coach Harendra Singh's mantra of 'attacking Indian hockey' word by word, the Indian hockey team literally bulldozed their way throughout the game, refusing the South African team even a single opportunity to turn the tables.

Only 10 minutes into the game, India had set the writing on the wall when Mandeep Singh struck the ball off the rebound of a penalty corner that India had received into the South African goalpost, and with that there was no looking back. Except for a brief lull in the second quarter, the Indians dominated throughout the game, creating chances that converted into brilliant goals.

Also, a significant improvement that was visible in the match was the way India converted penalty corners into brilliant goals. Even if they missed on drag flicks, they hit the ball into the goalpost on the rebound, as in the case of Mandeep Singh.

#1 A glimpse of vintage India?

Going by the explosive start to their campaign at the 2018 World Cup, one tends to wonder if the classic Team India, that once made rival teams run for cover, has made a comeback. If one carefully observes the game, it certainly looks like it.

The stars were however the forwards, including Simranjeet Singh, who scored two crisp goals, including one from the penalty corner. Contrary to the 7 penalty corners that Belgium had squandered, India missed only 2 of their 4 penalty corners, which is a major improvement, given how much India has suffered because of failure to convert penalty corners.

Also, an added benefit to their match was the presence of the entire Indian team that had clinched the top honors of the 1975 Hockey World Cup, apart from the charismatic Indian hockey star Dhanraj Pillay, which no doubt propelled the Indian team to perform.

If they perform the same way throughout the tournament, there is no doubt that India will end their medal drought after the 43 years, something every die hard hockey fan in India is yearning for.

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