Hockey Pro League: India men claw back from 1-4 down to beat Spain 5-4

hockey team was awarded a penalty stroke in their FIH Pro League match against Spain in Bhubaneswar on Saturday. Although Spain goalkeeper Mario Garin had an overall good game, he couldn’t save the day for Spain as Harmanpreet Singh slotted the ball into the net from the spot and helped India win 5-4. While the win will come as a relief, India’s performance at times was quite concerning. Their defence especially looked quite shaky and shockingly PR Sreejesh’s wall was breached not once but twice. As a result, 10 minutes into the third quarter, it was Spain who were leading 4-1 thanks to their captain Marc Miralles, who scored a brilliant hat-trick. Sadly, Spain made small mistakes that allowed the Indian team to claw back into the match and then win it.

First, Shilanand Lakra made it 2-4 one minute after Miralles had scored Spain’s fourth goal. Then Shamsher Singh scored two minutes later to further reduce the lead to 3-4. Although India were still trailing, the two quick goals shifted the momentum in favour of the hosts. As the last quarter began, Spain were playing to just stay in the game while India were all over the place. They won two PCs in quick succession but to Spain’s delight India couldn’t convert either of them. However, the pressure got too much for Spain and India won their sixth PC of the match with six minutes remaining on the clock. Since Harmanpreet wasn’t on the field, it was Varun Kumar, playing his 100th match, who came up to take it and he levelled the score for the hosts with a well-taken dragflick.

Finally, as the clock ticked down and both teams went all out in search for a win, it was Spain who erred once more. Abhishek and Akashdeep Singh broke the Spanish defence and a goal looked imminent