India men’s team goes down to Netherlands, finishes third

ROTTERDAM: The India men’s team’s FIH Pro League title hopes went up in smoke after suffering a hard-fought 1-2 defeat against the Netherlands in the second match of the two-leg tie here on Sunday.

India had lost 1-4 to the Dutch in the shoot-out on Saturday after both sides finished 2-2 at the end of the regulation 60 minutes. The Indians needed an outright win on Sunday to have an outside chance of clinching the title, but it was not to be.

The Netherlands won the FIH Pro League in the men’s section with 35 points from 14 matches, with two games still in hand. Olympic champion Belgium finished second with 35 points from 16 games while India occupied the third spot with 30 points from 16 matches.

The Indians started on a strong note, taking the lead inside 30 seconds with a brilliant field goal by Abhishek. Abhishek collected the ball in the right flank and ran past four defenders to push the ball past Dutch goalkeeper Mauritzs Visser.

India put the Dutch defence under persistent pressure from the start and dominated the early share of exchanges. But, the Netherlands forged its way into the match by levelling the score in the seventh minute through a penalty corner conversion by Jip Janssen.

The Netherlands was patient inside the India circle, and by doing so, secured another penalty corner in the 11th minute, which India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh kept at bay. The Dutch earned three more PCs in the opening quarter but failed to breach the Indian defence. In the 16th minute, India gained a penalty corner but Harmanpreet Singh’s flick was saved by the Dutch custodian.

The third quarter produced enthralling hockey but the teams failed to score till the 45th minute when Jorrit Croon sounded the board from a set-piece. Trailing by a goal, the Indians gave their all in the fourth and final quarter, and created numerous scoring chances in the form of penalty corners but failed to avail the opportunities.