The Tribune: India stun hosts Britain

India’s defence held its ground against a desperate Great Britain as they clinched a 2-1 victory on a wet day at the Champions Trophy here today, taking their tally to four points.

Austraila jumped to the top of the table after beating Korea 4-2. Australia also have four points but a better goal difference than second-placed India.

Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh made some great saves, while the defenders covered the angles well to help India emerge victorious.

India were pushed back in the first quarter and mostly looked for counter attacks. They scored against the run of play through Mandeep Singh on their first raid by SV Sunil in the 17th minute.

Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty stroke in the 33rd minute, while Britain pulled one back through a penalty corner conversion by Ashley Jackson in the 35th minute.

Despite enormous pressure from the hosts, India, who had allowed Germany to come back from a two-goal deficit to secure a 3-3 draw yesterday, stood their ground to register their first win of the tournament.

Britain have just one point from a draw in their opening match.

Earlier, Olympics champions Germany rallied from a two-goal deficit to secure a 4-4 draw with Belgium. The game was disrupted by heavy showers that left the field water-logged. Play was stopped for half-an-hour midway through the match.