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It was another day and another hard-fought defeat for the Indian men's hockey team in the FIH Pro League 2021-22! Pirmin Blaak restricted India from entering the goalpost on several occasions as the men in blue lost 1-4 in the shootout against hosts Netherlands in Rotterdam, on Saturday (June 18).
Both teams were locked at 2-2 at the end of regulation time. Tijmen Reyenga (10') and Koen Bijen (47') scored for the Netherlands. Meanwhile, a goal each by Dilpreet Singh (22') and Harmanpreet Singh (60+) kept India in the contest.
The hosts started the match in dominant fashion, creating opportunities within the first five minutes of the match. However, the Indian defense was intact, keeping their opponents away from scoring.
It eventually got hard for the Indian side to contain the Dutch as Derck de Vilder sneaked the ball past Indian defender Varun Kumar to find Tijmen Reyenga, who struck a neat goal to take an early 1-0 lead.
The action-packed first quarter continued with both teams aiming to find a gap. Meanwhile, the Indian attackers efficiently moved as Varun Kumar passed the ball to Dilpreet Singh, positioned perfectly inside the circle, to score the equalizer in the 22nd minute.
With both teams tied at 1-1, the final quarter was headed towards a thrilling contest when the Netherlands scored in the 47th minute to take their lead to 2-1. Stejin van Heijningen assisted Koen Bijen, who was successful in beating the Indian defense to score a field goal.
In the dying moments of the match, Harmanpreet Singh scored an equalizer to level the score at 2-2, before losing in the shootout.
Indian men's team are placed third with 30 points from 15 games behind the Netherlands (33 points) and Belgium (31 points) in the 2021-22 FIH Pro League points table.
FIH Pro League 2022: Indian men's team's upcoming fixtures
Men's team upcoming fixtures:
Match 1: Netherlands vs India
Date: June 18, 2022 Timings: 8:00pm IST (India lost 1-4)
Match 2: Netherlands vs India
Date: June 19, 2022 Timings: 8:00pm IST
Live Streaming details
All FIH Pro League 2022 matches will be telecast live on Star Sports Select 2 and Star Sports Select 2 HD channels. Matches will also be available for live streaming on the Hotstar app.
Also read: Mohammed Raheel shares his experience following an outstanding FIH Hockey 5s tournament
