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FULL TIME! And it’s all over as India draw Germany 3-3 in the opening tie of the FIH Champions Trophy 2016. A great start by India but they petered out towards the end. A penalty corner-rich game and India’s young talent firing today as expected.
All in all, a great performance from the young Blues against an experienced German side looking for an eleventh title at this Championship.
Looks like this game is alive and well. In the dying moments of play, Grambusch is yellow-carded!
57’! FINAL THREE MINUTES of play and Germany strike back! A penalty stroke goes into the goal and now the scores are level at 3-3!
54’ – PENALTY CORNER – ninth now – and it’s to India! Unfortunately, they’re unable to capitalize on that with a strong save from the goalkeeper. Scores still remain at 3-2.
India have yet another opportunity to score! This time it’s Mandeep who tries – an easy opportunity – and he misses! Could this be a crucial cog in India’s victory, or will they be able to pull it off anyway?
47’ and it’s ANOTHER Penalty Corner. The eighth of the match. It’s over the goal, though, so the scores remain at 3-2 with just over 10 minutes of play left in this match. India are still on the fence but doing everything to hold onto that lead.
46’ And Tom Grambusch is up in the goal yet again. One on one between Grambusch and PR Sreejesh and he saves a certain goal!
Beginning of the final 15 minutes of play and already Germany are back on the attack.
Q4 is now underway!
END OF Q3! As we enter the final quarter of the game, it’s Surinder Kumar with another block as the Blues play out of their skins. At four ranks below an incredibly strong German side, it’s been nothing short of a brilliant performance from the Indians as they stave off a persistent German attack. India’s defense has been very strong today, a fact Sardar Singh mentioned during the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.
42’ and it’s another penalty corrner. A lot of penalty corners to Germany in this game and they have a specialist player for the role! It’s a spectacular save from Mandeep that keeps India in a 3-2 lead.
41’ and PR Sreejesh proves his mettle time and time again. This time it’s a one-handed save to prevent Germany equalizing!
40‘ and it’s YET ANOTHER penalty corner for Germany! Again, they send their specialist Grambusch in – and he can’t get it past VR Raghunath, who prevents the title defenders from equalizing!
Are the cracks beginning to show? Talwinder receives a yellow card for a foul and India are down to 10 men again, for the next 5 minutes.
37’ PENALTY CORNER to Germany! And yet again it’s Grambusch who takes it – and scores! Germany trail 2-3 now and they’re making quite a fight of this match.
India’s now down to 10 men thanks to a green card. It’s Danish Mujtaba who was benched.
34’ GOOOOOAL! A penalty corner to India and it’s Harmanpreet who takes it. He gets it into goal to give India a 3-1 lead now! That’s an exquisite drag flick – and several watchers agree!
Each team had two penalty corner opportunities – with India capitalizing on neither, and Germany successfully taking one. India’s scoring has been entirely through field goals.
HALF TIME! India lead Germany 2-1. Two stunning field goals from VR Raghunath (7’) and Mandeep Singh (26’) give the blues the lead over reigning champions Germany.
It was a penalty corner taken by Thomas Grambusch that slipped through the otherwise sure hands of PR Sreejesh. The scores may have been 3-1 had it not been for a goal denied SV Sunil, although it touched his foot going in.
Nevertheless, a whopper of a performance from the Indian side, who are missing two of their stars – regular captain Sardar Singh and star fullback Rupinder Pal Singh, who is fondly known as Bob.
26’ And now India fight back with lightning speed! 4 minutes remain in the second quarter and it’s a field goal for Mandeep Singh to take scores to 2-1 ahead of half-time!
Germany score! It’s a penalty corner taken by Tom Grambusch that equalizes at 1-1.
And GERMANY are fighting now! They shoot and try to score – and star goalkeeper PR Sreejesh SAVES! In the absence of Sardar Singh, Sreejesh is captaining the side and he’s leading and how.
There’s a lot of deliberation after that score and they were afraid it was a foot in the circle – it is. A frustrated SV Sunil is disappointed with his own attempt and India will be too, denied a chance to widen that lead.
Q2 and SV Sunil SCORES – but doesn’t! After a referral, the goal is denied after it’s deemed that the ball touched his feet while scoring.
Scores remain at 1-0 India.
India have drawn first blood!
It’s time for Q2 as India lead Germany 1-0 in the opener! VR Raghunath with that walloping strike at 7’ has given India, the underdogs in today’s game, an early lead! Can they hold on?
So end of the first quarter. What a start it has been by India in the first quarter of the 2016 Champions Trophy.
12’ – India with plenty of movement and Germany gets a free hit.
11’ – India has been strong in defense till now and closing down the spaces especially in the centre.
10’ – Germany looking to equalize while India trying to slow things down. Here’s the starting line-up of today’s game:
9’ - We are in the final five minutes of the first quarter and India looking good.
7’ – Sreejesh and Raghunath both are returning in the line-up after being rested in the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament.
5’ – And India scores. It’s 1-0 for India. What a strike from Raghunath!
2’ – Misses, VR Raghunath flicks the ball away from danger.
1’ – Penalty Corner for Germany. Not the ideal start for India.
The whistle goes and India starts the 2016 Men’s Champions Trophy!
India will take on defending champions Germany in the opening match of the 2016 FIH Men’s Champions Trophy. Germany, who will look to win their 11th title as they play India in London.The third best men's hockey team in the world behind Australia and the Netherlands, Germany are four places ahead of the 7th-ranked India.The teams faced off at the 2015 Hockey World League finals in Antwerp, Belgium, with that encounter ending in a 1-1 draw in which India had been on the back foot until a late goal from Akashdeep saw the team equalize to prevent a loss.
India most recently played at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia, with the side finishing runners-up to the top-ranked Australia. The Kookaburras are the most successful team in the history of the Champions Trophy, with 13 titles to their name.
The Australian women's team is also the most successful in their discipline, with 6 Champions Trophy titles.
India’s hockey side have never won the title or finished as runners-up. The Blues have had a best third-place finish in 1982, when they beat Pakistan.
Given the team's nearly 35-year drought at a Champions Trophy prize, they will look to improve upon their performance at the tournament. They finished in fourth place last year behind Australia, with Germany winning the title and Pakistan finishing runners-up, with the tournament held in Bhubhaneshwar, India.
In positive news for the Indian side, Akashdeep, who was absent for the Sultan Azlan Shah trophy, will be returning to play in London. The team faced a drubbing by Australia in the finals of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, but will not face them until the final match of the group stages.
India, Australia, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Korea and Argentina will all be competing for top honours at the Men’s Champions Trophy in London, while the women’s side will not be participating. Both teams, however, have already qualified for the Olympic Games in Rio this August – the men’s team as a result of their 2014 Asian Games victory, and the women’s side after their semi-final victory at the European Championships last year.
Team substitutions and replacements
Star goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who sat out the entirety of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, returns to the side, taking over captaincy duties from Sardar Singh, who has been rested for the tournament.
Also absent from play at the Champions Trophy is Indian fullback Rupinder Pal Singh, who has been in good form this season.
Today’s India vs Germany, Mens Hockey Match Time:
Play will begin at 8:30 p.m. IST.
Team lineup
PR Sreejesh (C and GK), Vikas Dahiya (GK), Pradeep Mor, VR Raghunath, Kothajit Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Manpreet Singh, Danish Mujtaba, SK Uthappa, Chinglensana Singh, Devinder Walmiki, Harjeet Singh, Nikkin Thimmaiah, Akashdeep Singh, Talwinder Singh, Mandeep Singh, SV Sunil (VC)
