Commonwealth Games: India play out a thrilling 4-4 draw against England in men’s hockey

The Indian men’s hockey squad took a 3-0 lead in the first half and were probably expecting their second Pool B match to go similarly to their impressive first-round victory against Ghana.

 

However, England pulled off an impressive comeback, scoring three goals in the final quarter to make both teams walk away with one point each.

 

Within the regulation time, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay in the third minute, Mandeep Singh in the 13th and 22nd minute and Harmanpreet Singh in the 46th minute were the goalscorers for India.

 

In contrast, Liam Ansell scored for England in the 42nd minute, Nicholas Bandurak in the 47th and 53rd minute, and Phillip Roper in the 50th minute.

 

India started with their aggressive play from the beginning of the match as Hardik Singh charged on the left flank to build pressure on the English defence. India won a penalty corner in the third minute. Lalit Kumar Upadhyay slotted the ball into the net from the penalty corner rebound to open the scoring for India.

 

England won a penalty corner while hunting for an equalizer, but Vivek Sagar Prasad halted the attack in a moment of defensive brilliance. 

 

Hardik Singh launched a counterattack with just one minute left in the first quarter and sent the ball into the English circle. The ball landed on Mandeep Singh’s stick. He immediately struck an explosive shot to make it 2-0 for India.

 

Hardik Singh and Vivek Sagar Prasad continued to press toward the English circle in the second quarter, while Sam Ward and William Calnan returned the pressure on the Indian defence.

 

Mandeep Singh made a run towards and fired a quick shot that went into the net after a slight deflection by an English defender. The first half ended with a 3-0 lead for India.

 

England started the second half with renewed vigour to take control of the ball, but the Indian defence held firm to deny the English attackers the opportunity to get an on-target shot. England finally got a breakthrough with three minutes left in the third quarter to narrow the deficit to 3-1.

Englan started the final quarter more confidently, hoping to reduce the deficit further, but a disappointing error gave India a penalty corner. Harmanpreet Singh made no mistake and slotted the ball into the net with an excellent penalty corner flick to widen India’s lead to 4-1.

One minute later, Nicholas Bandurak fired the ball into the net, followed by another goal from Phillip Roper in the 50th minute to narrow the deficit to 4-3. The Indian defence was shaken up, allowing Nicholas Bandurak to score another goal to level the score three minutes later.

England kept building pressure, but the Indian squad calmed their nerves to deny the home squad the winning goal. The final whistle rang, and both sides walked away with one point each as the match ended with a 4-4 draw.

India will next face Cannada in their third Pool B match of the Commonwealth Games on August 3.