THE INDIAN MEN'S SENIOR HOCKEY TEAM earned a hard-fought victory against Britain on the last match of their European tour.
The Men in Blue took to the field with Harmanpreet Singh wearing the captain's armband and it was him who got India the lead within the first few minutes. India earned a penalty corner and Harmanpreet converted it with a drag-flick to get the goal.
A second major goalscoring opportunity in the first quarter - another penalty corner - was taken by Harmanpreet and this time the Great Britain keeper managed to keep it out.
But early on in the second quarter the opponents earned a penalty corner and found the net. Now tied 1-1, a prolonged period of possessional battle ensued. But towards the end of the quarter, India got another penalty corner. As Chinglensana Singh took the set piece, Vivek halted it allowing Harmanpreet to go for his second goal with a drag flick. But the keeper managed to stop the ball, which went towards Manandeep Singh, who made no mistake in capitalizing the opportunity. India went intoi the half-time a goal ahead.
The third quarter saw a tighter contest as both teams tried to add to their tally. Britain played aggressively throughout the 4th quarter but India managed to successfully keep them at bay, until about five minutes before full time. They equalized.
But with little time to spare, India rose to the occasion. An immediate retaliatory push saw Manandeep Singh find the net for the second time, grabbing India a last gasp victory by a 3-2 margin.
With this victory, India have finished their European tour undefeated, including two wins and two draws. They beat Germany 6-1 in their first game, followed by a 1-1 draw. In their first match with Great Britain on Saturday, India were held to a 1-1 draw.
Other than the positive results, this tour has served as a good way for the team to kick back into action ahead of their all-important medal campaign at the Tokyo Olympics starting July 24th.