Displaying clinical hockey with meticulous ball possession and matching ball rotation, Harjeet Singh’s India outplayed Pakistan for a fluent 6-0 win in the 4th Sultan of Johor Cup today.
Arman Qureshi struck a brace in the Indian team’s heartwarming feat.
Imran Khan bounces off to a penalty corner rebound to give India 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute against sedate Pakistan in their third match of the Sultan of Johor Cup for Under-21 boys in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
India dominated the first 20,25 minutes with neat ball possession technique, and frequent entry into the circle.
Gurinder reverse slap push gave Parvinder Singh, standing in front of substitute goalie, a perfect chance to deflect the ball into the other corner of the net (2-0) a minute before the half time.
It was India’s third penalty corner.
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Captain Harjeet unleashed a good pass to Neelakanata Sharma in a triangle parting, which Arman Qureshi deflected past goalie Khalid (3-) in the 49th min to give India the unassailable lead.
Jarmanpreet Singh deflected the rebound of fourth Indian penalty corner to give Pakistan another blow (4-0).
Penalty corner specialist in the team Varun Kumar struck the last nail in the coffin with a straight conversion (5-0) three minutes left before the hooter.
To continue the woes, Arman Qureshi dived infront to deflect a penalty corner push to axe another goal on the hapless Pakistan a minute before the hooter (6-0).
Despite missing first two penalty corners, India converted next four for a great 6-4 record while Pak wasted all the three they got.
India, in the beginning however, committed unforced errors too to concede two quick Penalty Corners but Pak could not make use of them, as Abhinav Pandey, Indian goalie was in his elements.
Talal, the rival goalie, also did a tremendous job under the bar to deny India a goal in its first penalty corner, but had to be taken off play field after taking a hit on the chest during the defence of second penalty corner, of which India took the lead.
India’s second goal came after it took some nasty shots at goal, with Abhinav deflecting the ball in the nick of time.
Except in the opening few minutes and last spell of first half, Pak was subdued with meticulous ball possession and rotation of Indian colts, whose patience paid off twice.
Pakistan on the other hand relied on breakaways but did not many.
One major lacuna of India team seemed to be getting cards aplenty.
Pic Courtesy: www.sultanjohorcup.com.my