India Win Humdinger

New Delhi, Oct. 12: India gave the English a dose of their own medicine, defeating them 5-4 on penalty shootout to storm into the final of the men’s hockey competition at the 19th Commonwealth Games here on Tuesday.

India will now take on Australia for the gold medal match on Thursday, in what will be the hosts’ first ever appearance in the CWG final.

Down 1-3 till the 45th minute, the Men in Blue played out of their skins and scored twice in the span of five minutes to force the match into extra-time.

It all boiled down to the penalty shootout, with goalkeeper Bharat Chetri turning out to be India’s saviour. He blocked a shot from Glenn Kirkham even as Richard Smith, Richard Mantell, Ashley Jackson and Simon Mantell found the net for England.

Sarvanjit Singh, Vikram Pillay, Sandeep Singh and Arjun Halappa were on target and when Shivendra Singh converted the last penalty stroke, all hell broke loose. The scenes had to be seen to be believed. Drenched in sweat and tears, the Indian players jumped and hugged each other as the 20,000-odd crowd cheered them wildly.

Earlier, it was a roller-coaster ride with India displaying calm nerves, strong tactical play and masteful ball control to knock the wind off England.
Rookie Sarvanjit Singh’s 20th minute strike put India ahead, who then made England sweat for every move in the opening half.

Defensive errors in the last 10 seconds though did them in. “Hold the ball, hold the ball,” screamed coach Jose Brasa from the sidelines as India conceded a penalty corner. Ashley Jackson found the net at the tick of the clock (1-1).

England pressurised India after the change of ends, relying on long passes and sharp penetrations. Their moves paid dividends soon. Jackson converted another in the 41st minute and Simon Mantell beat custodian Chetri with an accurate cross four minutes later to go 3-1 up.

Playing a cautious game until then, the hosts knew it was now or never. Undeterred by the deficit, the team went all out and attacked with such ferocity that the English were running haplessly to man their citadel.

Vikram Pillay made it 2-3 scoring in a goalmouth melee in the 56th minute, and Saravanjit found the equalizer in the 60th minute.

Earlier, Australia steamrolled New Zealand 6-2 to cruise into their fourth straight final. Simon Orchard (25th, 70th minute) and Glenn Turner (28th, 67th) scored a double each while Jason Wilson (31st) and Desmond Abbott (43rd) also sounded the board once for Australia.