The Indian men’s hockey side today defeated Japan 2-1 in their opening match at the 2016 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, with captain Sardar Singh scoring the winning goal to take his side over the line.
Playing in Ipoh, Malaysia, the team were a goal down before staging a comeback in their first match at the tournament.
India lost a couple of crucial scoring chances against their lower-ranked rivals, with Japan’s Kenji Kitazato scoring early in the second quarter to give his side a 1-0 lead. Drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh made up for the deficit late in the same quarter.
With the scores at 1-1 at half time, it was captain Sardar Singh who scored in the 32nd minute to give the men in blue victory.
From then on it was a one-sided display, albeit with no more goals, as India held the possession, and kept control of the game for large periods of time. Ramandeep once again went close, with a great bit of individual play as he burst past four Japanese defenders and Sardar Singh was denied by the goalkeeper in the fourth quarter. India closed out the match to win 2-1.
Speaking after the match Chief Coach Roelant Oltmans said “When players haven’t played competitive matches for a while, they lack a certain amount of match sharpness and that was evident in our play in the first half. But, we changed that, and came out with the victory, which is the important thing. A huge amount of credit must also go to Japan, for having given us a tough outing. They are a young team and must be applauded.”
