Unbelievable India stun Netherlands to clinch bronze in HWL finals

12/06/2015

India defeated World No.2 Netherlands in a thrilling shootout to win bronze at the HWL Finals 2015 in Raipur on Sunday. From 0-2 in the first half, India made an unbelievable comeback with four goals in the last quarter to go 5-3 before Netherlands pulled two back in the dying minutes to force a shootout. India again came from behind to win the shootout 3-2 in front of a rapturous crowd.

After suffering a 0-1 defeat against Belgium on Saturday in the semi-final, India were looking for revenge against Netherlands for the 3-1 hammering they received in the group stages. The head-to-head record between the teams was abysmally loaded against the Indians – 1-17 in the last 18 matches against Netherlands, which came during the Champions Trophy last year.

The match started with both teams going for the goal from the first whistle. Netherlands drew first blood in the ninth minute through Mirco Pruijser, who scored his third goal of the tournament. Pruijser made the most of the lapse in the Indian defence to slot it past Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh.

SV Sunil’s pace was causing the Dutch defence problems with only the finish missing from the forward. The World No.2 side ended the quarter in ascendancy leading the hosts 1-0.

The Dutch started the second quarter by dominating possession but Sreejesh once again was the saviour for India as his saves kept India from going 2-0. However, the Men in Orange finally found their second goal with a reverse hit from Niek van der Schoot in the 25th minute.

India raised the momentum immediately with a penalty corner but the hosts scuffed the chance. The Dutch ended the half leading 2-0 as India were made to rue their mistakes.

Netherlands almost went 3-0 ahead but for two glorious opportunities going agonisingly wide of the Indian goal. India won their third penalty corner in 13th minute; however, poor trapping by the Indians saw the chance go begging.

With Netherlands squandering opportunities, India pulled one goal back in the 39th minute through Ramandeep Singh. With the crowd powering them on, India pushed hard in the last quarter in search of the equalizer. India began the comeback in the 47th minute with Rupinder Pal Singh’s drag flick beating Dutch goalie Pirmin Blaak from a penalty corner to make it 2-2.

Ramandeep Singh finally put India ahead in the 51st minute with his flick beating Dutch goalie Pirmin Blaak into the goal to make it 3-2.

The last ten minutes were an absolute mayhem as both teams pushed forward for more goals. Netherlands won themselves a penalty corner in the 53rd minute through a foot foul by India and Mink Van Der Weerden leveled things up through his drag flick to provide another twist to the match. Sreejesh was completely beaten with Van Der Weerden’s drag flick crashing into the top of the goal.

India won their own penalty corner in the next minute, and was further awarded a penalty stroke after the flick struck a Dutch defender on the line. Rupinder Pal Singh successfully converted the penalty corner to put India ahead again. India increased their lead within one minute as Sardar Singh’s brilliant play found Akashdeep Singh in the middle as his easy tap-in put India 5-3.

NED 3-5 IND Sardar Singh knocks the ball past Blaak for Akashdeep to score HWL2015 #Raipur https://t.co/AInFvZGLhc
— FIH (@FIH_Hockey) December 6, 2015

The roller-coaster match took another turn with Netherlands scoring from a penalty stroke. Mink Van Der Weerden stepped up to convert the stroke to close the gap on India to one goal. With four seconds left for the final hooter, Der Weerden stunned the crowd at Raipur with a searing shot to level 5-5 and force a shootout for the bronze.

In the shootout, Netherlands scored first with Billy Bakker scoring his attempt. Danish Mujtaba converted his attempt to put the score level at 1-1. However, a referral by the umpire reversed the decision in favour of the Dutch to put India behind 0-1. Jeroen Hertzberger, who took Netherlands next attempt committed a foul to miss his attempt. India and Netherlands missed their next attempts, but Birendra Lakra converted to pull things back for India. Netherlands went 2-1 ahead in their next attempt, but India equalised back with 'Captain Cool' Sardar Singh scoring nonchalantly under intense pressure.

PR Sreejesh’s heroics in front of the goal continued as he stopped Netherlands from scoring their fifth attempt. Dutch goalie Pirmin Blaak fouled Manpreet Singh in the last attempt to give India a penalty stroke to win the match. Rupinder Pal Singh stepped up to convert his attempt to propel India to the bronze in the Hockey World League Finals 2015.