K. ARUMUGAM

India left it late while winning an enthralling 2024 Olympic hockey opener against New Zealand 3-2 at the Yves-du-Manoir stadium in Paris on Saturday.

Captain Harmanpreet Singh, coolness personified, scored from a penalty stroke with just under two minutes left to help the eight-time champions tuck vital three points away and do an encore of the opener against the doughty Black Sticks at Tokyo 2020.

The result could be construed as cruel for New Zealand who pressed India hard right through the encounter and even shot ahead in the first quarter when Sam Lane beat goalkeeper PR Sreejesh from a penalty corner in the eighth minute.

None in a black shirt would have been more crestfallen than goalkeeper Dominic Dixon whose breathtaking saves kept the New Zealand goal intact in the face of India’s sporadic offensives in the second and third quarters.

India equalized in the 24^th minute when Mandeep Singh picked the ball from Dixon’s pad and Simon Child’s grasp and went ahead in the 34^th minute with a touch of fortune.

An umpire’s referral brought  ‘No Advice Possible’ from the video official for the ball having crossed the goalline or not before a clearance and Vivek Sagar Prasad was deemed scorer of the go-head goal.

New Zealand whose players have 1976 printed on their shirts to commemorate their only gold medal win at the Games were in no mood to relent.

A succession of penalty corners brooked no reward but persistence paid in the 53^rd minute when Simon Child, a veteran of 308 caps, turned injector to scorer amid a melee from his side’s 10^th such award to cause butterflies in the Indian dugout that included Head Coach, the illustrious South African Craig Fulton.

In a pool that also has 2020 finalists Australia and Belgium, pre-tournament calculations urged full points from the other teams in the quarter-final race and India were up against it as the minutes ticked away.

With play going end-to-end, and New Zealand looking the more likely to score, India forced their fourth PC, and earned a re-award after an umpire’s referral denied Harmanpreet’s side a penalty stroke.

The re-award brought a penalty stroke after a body on the line kept the ball out and the stage was set for Harmanpreet Singh to get on to the scoresheet.

‘Captain Cool’ wore a look of supreme confidence to beat Dixon who guessed correctly but failed to prevent Harmanpreet’s shot flying into the net.

Dixon made way for an outfield player and New Zealand came agonizingly close to scoring with seconds remaining when a cross all but drew a touch at the far post.

Indian fans may perceive the result as sweet revenge for New Zealand’s shoot out win in a crossover match at the 2023 World Cup in Bhubaneswar.
But India, bronze medalists at Tokyo, will far from celebrate too much knowing the sternness of the challenges that lie ahead of this campaign.

Australia, the 2004 gold medal winners, beat Argentina, 2016 champions, who India play next on Monday, 1-0 while defending champions Belgium quelled Ireland’s challenge 2-0.

In Pool A, four-time champions Germany routed hosts France 8-2, 1988 gold medallists Great Britain beat Spain 4-0 and 1996 and 2000 winners The Netherlands  put it across a fighting South Africa 5-3.