Hockey News: India begins the FIH Hockey Pro League campaign with a 4-3 victory over New Zealand

Within the regulation time, Mor Mandeep in the 13th minute, Harmanpreet Singh in the 41st minute, and Mandeep Singh in the 51st and 56th minute were the goalscorers for India. In contrast, Sam Lane in the 22nd and 35th minutes, and Jake Smith in the 34th minute scored for New Zealand.

Mor Mandeep opened the scoring for India in the ending moments of the first quarter, but Sam Lane equalized the score for New Zealand with an excellent penalty corner flick in the 22nd minute. The first half ended with both sides tied 1-1.

New Zealand continued to dominate the host side in the early third quarter as they put forth an excellent display of creative attacking and circle penetrations to convert two more goals. 

India went on a counterattack and Harmanpreet Singh slotted the ball behind New Zealand goalkeeper Dominic Dixon to narrow the deficit to 3-2.

India continued with the attacking momentum in the final quarter as Mandeep Singh scored two goals to help India secure a 4-3 victory over New Zealand.

In a post-match interview, Harmanpreet Singh said, “The boys did an excellent job as we were playing after a long gap, but coming back from behind to win the match is always a great feeling. We made some mistakes, and we will work on those before our next match against Spain. Spain is a really good team. We would look to continue our winning performance in this FIH Hockey Pro League season.”

New Zealand will next lock horns with Spain in an FIH Hockey Pro League clash at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, on October 29.