FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup | India enter quarters after win over Poland, to face Belgium next
The Indian hockey team progressed to the quarters of the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup 2021 after a resounding 8-2 victory over Poland in their final Pool B match at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar. After France thrashed Canada, India needed at least a draw to make it to the playoffs.
Sanjay was among the goals once again and scored a brace along with Sudeep Chirmako and Araijeet Singh Hundal. Uttam Singh and Sharda Nand Tiwari scored one goal each. After facing a shock 4-5 defeat in the opening encounter against France, the Indian team did well to beat Canada 13-1, and Poland 8-2.
The Indian team kept attacking the Polish half right from the word go, and breached their defense as early as the fourth minute. Sanjay, India's vice-captain converted the penalty corner to open the scoring for his side. This was also his seventh goal, after he scored hat-tricks in the matches against Canada and France.
At the start of the second quarter, the Indians started with a goal, with the score reading 3-0. Then in the second half, Indians went on the attack full tilt, adding five goals to the tally. Meanwhile, Wojciech Rutkowski (50’) and Robert Pawlak (54’) managed to score a couple for the Polish side.
Now the Indian team will face Belgium in the quarters on December 1. Interestingly, the Indians had beaten Belgium in the last edition, to lift the trophy.