Sultan Azlan Shah Cup: India suffer embarrassing defeat at the hands of Australia

ByArun S Kaimal, SportsCafe Editor

04/07/2016

The Indian men’s hockey team were humble spectators to a masterclass from World Champions Australia as they lost 1-5 in their second match of the 2016 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup at Ipoh, Malaysia on Thursday. Rupinder Pal Singh scored the lone goal for India from a penalty corner in the eighth minute.

After earning an unconvincing 2-1 win over Japan in the opening game, India took on World Champions Australia in their second match of the 2016 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. Youngster Harmanpreet Singh, who scored a goal through a penalty corner in the last game, retained his place in the starting line-up as coach Roelant Oltmans put a young team on the field against the experienced Aussies.

But India had a terrible start to the match after Australia went ahead in the fifth minute through a penalty corner goal from Blake Govers. Govers struck the ball to the left of a diving Harjot Singh to beat the Indian goalie and to put his team in the lead. But the scorers were back to level terms within three minutes as Mandeep Singh earned a penalty corner to pave the way for Rupinder Pal Singh’s goal. The young forward weaved his way through the Aussie defence and found the leg of the defender. Rupinder Pal Singh did the rest as he unleashed a powerful flick from the resultant penalty corner to beat Andrew Charter in the goal.

With the goal in the bag, the World No.7 team looked more confident and pushed forward in search of another. Although S V Sunil and Mandeep Singh pestered the Aussie defence, it was the Kookaburras that ended the first quarter with a lead after Jacob Whetton found a gap in the Indian defence. With India pushing forward, Australia produced a quick counter through Jamie Dwyer and caught the defence napping to give Whetton an easy tap in.

Things went from bad to worse for the team in blue in the second quarter after Australia took a two-goal lead from a defensive lapse. Rupinder Pal Singh’s poor clearance from the shooting circle was intercepted by Eddie Ockenden inside the circle, and the forward smashed the ball past Harjot to make it 1-3. The Aussies made it 4-1 in the 26th minute though Simon Orchard after Jamie Dwyer outfoxed the Indian defence with a back pass to give his compatriot an easy tap in.

Compared to the first two-quarters, the last two proved to be a disappointment with the World Champions happily sitting back and India struggling to break the defence. The difference in class was on show as the Aussies strolled through the last thirty minutes, while the Indians ran from one end to another in search of the ball. The Aussie made it 5-1 in the fourth quarter through Matt Gohdes to hand India an embarrassing loss.

India will next face Canada in their third match on Sunday.

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