India’s Junior Men’s Hockey team has just clinched the EurAsia Cup 2016 after defeating Dynamo-Stroitel 3-2 in a nail-biter of a contest at Russia’s Yekaterinburg.
On Saturday, the young men in blue had gotten the better of the hosts by enforcing a 3-1 result in their favour in the tournament opener which they had dominated thoroughly before Dynamo could salvage a consolation goal in the dying minutes.
Sunday’s contest, however, proved to be a far closer one between the two outfits who stayed busy amidst the continuous sway of action from one end to the other.
Also Read: Indian Junior Hockey Team look to learn and emulate senior team in EurAsia Cup
The first half offered little to cheer for the spectators with several forward movements by either side fizzing out in the final third, to keep things tied goallessly at the interval. Within a minute of the resumption of play in the second half, it was Gurjant Singh who found the first breakthrough to put India 1-0 ahead.
Fifteen minutes remaining on the clock, the home side upped the ante and inflicted back-to-back blows for the Indian cause. Through the sticks of Matkovsky Semen and Leontyev Mikhail, Dynamo-Stroitel advanced to a 2-1 lead in the 46th minute to set up a thrilling finish to the encounter.
In the 53rd minute, Varun Kumar slotted home his second goal in as many matches to equalise for India. Finally, Parvinder Singh’s 62nd minute-strike restored the Indian lead which proved to be the eventual winner since the scoreline stayed 3-2 till the hooter was blown to signal the end of the match.
With this, the completion of two successive victories over Dynamo-Stroitel at the Russian venue over the weekend has fetched the Indian men’s junior team the 2016 EurAsia Hockey Cup.
