FIH Hockey Pro League: The Netherlands defeat Indian Men and Indian Women beat champions Argentina

Within the regulation time, Reyenga Tijmen in the 9th minute and Bijen Koen in the 46th minute were the goalscorers for the Netherlands. In contrast, Dilpreet Singh in the 21st minute and Harmanpreet Singh in the 60th minute scored for India.

The Netherlands started the opening quarter patiently and constantly made well-executed runs towards the Indian circle. Reyenga Tijmen opened the scoring for the Dutch side with a precise shot past the Indian goalkeeper Sreejesh after receiving a pass from Derck de Vilder. The Indian side launched a counterattack, and Abishek fired two shots but failed to beat the Dutch goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak.

Dilpreet Singh equalized the score for India with a brilliant deflection after receiving a well-placed pass from Varun Kumar. Both squads launched back-to-back attacks but failed to score as the first half ended with 1-1.

The Netherlands regained the lead in the second half as Koen Bijen fired the ball into the net with Steijn van Heijningen. The Dutch squad went onto the defensive and fought tooth and nail to maintain their lead. They got an opportunity further to increase the lead in the game's final minutes, but a penalty corner flick by Jip Janssen was parried away by Sreejesh. India then earned two consecutive penalty corners with just 20 seconds left on the clock, and Harmanpreet Singh slotted the ball into the net to send the match into a shootout.

Terrance Pieters, Thijs van Dam, Jonas de Geus, and Koen Bijen beat Sreejesh to score for the Dutch side in the shootout, while Vivek Sagar Prasad was the only one to score for India. The Netherlands won the shootout 4-1 and moved past Belgium to claim the top spot on the FIH Pro League rankings.

Indian women's hockey team defeats Argentina as Neha and Sonika score in the shootout

In the women's event, India won against Argentina 3-3(2-1) in the first leg of the FIH Pro League match at HC Rotterdam, Rotterdam, on June 18.

The squads were equally matched as they locked horns on neutral territory in Rotterdam. India put forth a brilliant display of patience, determination, and grit to match the FIH Pro League champions, Argentina.

Lalremsiami in the 3rd minute and Gurjit Kaur in the 36th and 56th minute were the goalscorers for India. In contrast, Gorzelany Agustina scored a hattrick for Argentina in the 21st, 36th, and 44th minutes as both squads traded a goal for goal to send the match into a shootout.

The Argentine women struggled in the shootout as only Victoria Granatto could score. In contrast, Neha and Sonika comfortably slotted the ball into the net past the Argentine goalkeeper Succi Belento to win the match for India.

In a post-match interview, Player of the Match Lalremsiani said, "We did good and are all playing very well. It isn't easy to win over Argentina because they are a good team. I am proud of our performance. We played as a team and played together, helping each other. We had a reasonable effort as a team, so I am thrilled with that