Harpal Singh Bedi
New Delhi, 09 February: Displaying awesome firepower India walloped South Africa 10-2 to record their second successive win against the hosts at the FIH Hockey Pro League at Potchefstroom on Wednesday.
New comer Jugraj Singh led the Indian charge by scoring three goals(4′, 6′, 23′) with his impeccable drag flicks. Harmanpreet Singh (2′), Abhishek (12′), Gursahibjit Singh (24′, 36′), Dilpreet Singh (25′, 58′), Mandeep Singh (27′) were the other goal scorers..
Indians were all over the South African defence from the very first minute of the match forcing a penalty corner, Harmanpreet’s first attempt was blocked by South African rusher Keenan Horne, however on the rebound he struck with a fierce flick that beat the goalkeeper Estiaan Kriek.
The goal set the tone for the Indian attackers as they went on to score three more goals in the first quarter.
Second and third goal were scored by Jugraj Singh who impressed with his ability to dragflick. First he struck powerfully on the top right of the goalkeeper, and then with a good injection by Jarmanpreet Singh and accurate stopping by Vivek Sagar Prasad ,he sent the ball low on the right of the goalkeeper.
Abhishek then made full use of the South African defenders error as he intercepted the ball inside the circle and with a first time sent the ball home to make it 4-0 in the 12th minute.
In the second quarter Indian forward line created a couple of good chances e that resulted in back-to-back four goals.
While Jugraj Singh scored his third goal as he converted a PC earned by Abhishek in the 23rd minute,(5-0) Gursahibjit scored in the 24th minute, Dilpreet in the 25th and Mandeep struck in the 27th minute taking India’s lead to a formidable 8-0 ahead of half-time.
India seemed to drop the momentum a tad bit in the third quarter. After an initial burst in attack Gursahibjit score his second goal of the match in the 36th minute (9-0),
A tentative Indian defence gave way for South African forwardline to create chances in the striking circle. India conceded at least three PCs, out of which they converted one when Daniel Bell pushed the ball past Sreejesh’s left foot in the 44th minute.(9-1)
The goal did good to the hosts’ confidence as they struck another fine field goal via Richard Pautz in the 45th minute (9-2) .
The final quarter saw both teams create enough opportunities to score. While India’s defence rallied together to foil all the rival attacks. Their forward line worked together to help Dilpreet score in the 58th minute of the match. To make 10-2.
India had beaten South Africa 5-0 in the first match on Tuesday