India edge past Belgium, face Germany in semis

young new delhi: The amerindic team up held their nerves to bunk Belgium 2-2 (4-3) via a penalty shootout in a high-octane quarter-final at the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup in Chennai on Friday.

Goalkeeper Princedeep Singh was the Player-of-the-Match with some incredible saves in the shootout that brought back memories of his coach PR Sreejesh, the former custodian of the Indian senior team.

Princedeep was extremely effective in regulation time too, keeping Belgium at bay, particularly in the third quarter when they won back-to-back penalty corners.

“Have learnt a lot from Sreejesh and the confidence is up (after) watching him, learning from him. It was a sensational match and the crowd support in Chennai has been incredible,” said Princedeep.

Sharda Nand Tiwari too stood tall in India’s shootout, his penalty strokes kept India in the hunt. He scored thrice while Ankit Pal scored the winning goal for India taking the scoreline to 4-3 in a tense shootout.

Earlier, India remained patient after trailing Belgium for 32 minutes until they levelled the score in the 45th minute when captain Rohit broke the deadlock with a drag-flick.

Belgium had scored in the 13th minute through a field goal by Gaspard Cornez-Massant, putting India on the backfoot. The following quarter, Belgium put on a brilliant defensive structure that kept blocking away any chance India could create.

But the third quarter was where all the action unfolded when India returned from the half-time break with renewed vigour. India custodian Princedeep, meanwhile, was on absolute fire making some brilliant saves.

In the 48th minute, Sharda put India 2-1 ahead with a well-executed PC. The goal brought up big celebrations across the stadium. But it was short-lived as Belgium found an equaliser in the 59th minute through Nathan Rogge.

Next up, India will take on seven-time and defending champions Germany in the semi-final on Sunday.

India girls win too

The Indian team secured a dominant 4-0 win over Ireland in their final Pool C match of the FIH Junior Women’s World Cup in Santiago. Purnima Yadav (42nd, 58th), Kanika Siwach (12th) and Sakshi Rana (57th) scored goals for India.

India made a bright start and showed great attacking intent. They continued to pile on the pressure, winning PCs. Later, Sakshi played the perfect pass to Kanika inside the circle who skillfully went around the charging Irish goalkeeper and slotted the ball in.

India converted a PC when Purnima deflected Sakshi Shukla’s strong pass to make it 2-0.

India scored back-to-back in the final minutes. Sakshi showcased incredible 3D skills from the left flank as she went past defenders and took a powerful shot beating the goalkeeper to find the bottom corner.

This was followed by Purnima’s second goal as she did well to deflect the ball over the goalkeeper and into the net.

Germany qualified directly to the quarter-finals by topping Pool C. India finished second and will depend on other results on Saturday to see whether they qualify for the last eight. Six group toppers and two best second positioned teams will qualify for the quarter-finals.

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