Sultan of Johor Cup | Indian colts beat Australia to reach semis

India's junior men’s hockey team has been in a rollicking form in the tournament with four wins in as many matches with their latest exploits coming against the defending champions Australia. Initially, the match against Australia seemed to be going too easy for Indian players as the latter led 4-0  at the end of the first quarter of the match.

The goal feast for India started with Gursahibji Singh, who scored through a field goal in the fifth minute. It was followed by three more back-to-back goals in the 11th, 14th and 15th minute scored by Haspreet Singh, Mandeep Mor and Vishnukant Singh respectively.

But, the going got tougher for the Indians as the Australians came back stronger in the second quarter to score a goal through Damon Stiffens in the 18th minute. After that though, India did not let Australians score any more goals in that quarter and at the half-time, the score read 4-1 in India’s favour.

The third quarter saw Australian narrow the deficit from three to two as they scored two goals and India returned the favour with one. The score at the end of quarter three was India leading with 5-3.

The final quarter of the match was the most interesting one as the Kangaroos tried to make a comeback in the dying moments of the match, scoring a goal in the 59th minute of the match. Ultimately, India held on to its slender lead of one goal, which at one time, looked unassailable. India won the high scoring match with five points to Australia’s four.