Despite Harmanpreet Singh missing penalty stroke, India outplays Germany in Hockey Pro League contest

Indian skipper Harmanpreet Singh shook his head in disbelief as he missed a penalty stroke in the dying minutes of the FIH Hockey Pro League encounter against visiting Germany in Rourkela on Friday (March 10).

While India scored a 3-2 win over Germany in their first competition post a dismal showing at the 2023 FIH Hockey World Cup held in Odisha, Harmanpreet’s performance was a mixed bag.

The ace drag flicker showed tenacity to convert a penalty corner in the second quarter to put India in the driver's seat, but fizzled out in the closing stages of the fast-paced contest as his penalty stroke went over the bar.

Sukhjeet Singh scored two other goals for the home team. Germany, the reigning world champion despite dominating the contest and having more ball possession, could score two goals that too in the second half of the contest.

Sukhjeet Singh, who won the player of the match award said: “It was good to win the first match after the 2023 Hockey World Cup.”

Germany’s second goal came in the last two minutes of the contest. Conceding goals in the closing stages of a global competition isn’t a healthy sign and will be one of the key issues that needs to be improved.

Indian men’s hockey team is being managed by an ad-hoc coaching panel as chief coach Graham Reid and his coaching staff quit in January after the 2023 Hockey World Cup in Odisha due to the dismaying performance of the Indian team.

Hockey India have appointed South Africa expert Craig Fulton and he is expected to take over the reign of the team post Odisha’s FIH Hockey Pro League competition.

The Odisha’s FIH Hockey Pro League leg will certainly give India the opportunity to improve their global rankings and build up confidence ahead of the 2022 postponed Asian Games in September.

However, it will be a challenging task for Craig Fulton, the new chief men’s hockey coach to strengthen all areas and win the title at the Asian Games, which is one of the qualifying events for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.