Valencia [Spain], Oct.25 : The Indian junior men's hockey team kicked off their Four-Nations Invitational Tournament on a promising note as they defeated Germany 3-1 in their opening game here on Tuesday.
In the opening encounter, India and Germany started off with a highly intense first-half that saw a lot of attacking intent from both sides.
It was India that wrested the initiative with their first penalty corner of the game, Varun Kumar's conversion giving them the lead in the 17th minute.
India kept up a high pressing game consistently, but were undone by a Kai Aichinger goal in the 22nd minute to concede the equaliser.
Three minutes later, Varun converted another penalty corner to put India back into the lead as they went into half time.
India were stubborn in defence in the second-half not allowing the Germans too many forays into their area and constantly keeping them at bay.
The one clear chance for Germany was from a penalty corner in the final minutes which was palmed away expertly by Vikas Dahiya, to help preserve India's lead.
With time running out and the score line against them, Germany started committing numbers forward. India took advantage of their high line and Ajay Yadav, finished a well worked counter attack in the 68th minute to give India a well-deserved victory.
In contrast, the Indian junior women's hockey team opened their tour of the Five-Nations Invitational Tournament with a 3-0 loss to England.
India started off very strongly and their defensive organisation denied their opponents any spaces in the opening periods.
It took England until the 22nd minute on the first half to real in a shot at India's goal. Their attempt off a penalty was converted by Erica Sanders to give England the lead. Megan Crowson scored the second for England to give them a 2-0 lead as they went into half time. Crowson doubled her tally for the game in the 43rd minute to hand India a 3-0 loss in the opener. The Indian junior women's team will next lock horns with Spain today before the men team will take on Belgium on Wednesday.
Source: ANI
