Hockey Pro League Highlights: Netherlands BEAT India – Netherlands bounced back after a heavy loss against Australia with a 3-2 win against India in the FIH Pro League on Saturday, 10th June 2023. This is India’s second successive defeat against hosts Netherlands in the tournament.
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Looking for redemption after their heavy loss to Australia a day earlier, the Netherlands were first to score. Sheldon Schouten hit an attacking ball into the circle which found its way through traffic to Duco Telgenkamp to tap it in from the back post.
Telgenkamp was in action again, finding the back of the net off a penalty corner rebound. But a Dutch backstick before Telgenkamp’s strike meant the goal was disallowed.
India equalised when a great aerial ball found Sanjay on the baseline. He controlled it well and then beat the defence with a clever spin to find the far corner for his first international goal.
Abishek received another aerial ball into the circle with just a few seconds left on the clock in the first half, but his shot was comfortably saved by keeper Derk Meijer to keep the scores level at the break.
Ten minutes into the third quarter, a fantastic pass from Luke Dommershuijzen to a perfectly placed Boris Burkhardt gave the Dutchman plenty of time to blast it into goal.
Another Dutch penalty corner was then saved, but from the ensuing play, Joep de Mol injected the ball back in for Tjep Hoedemakers to produce the faintest of touches and deflect in through the keeper’s legs for the home side to take a 3-1 advantage into the final break.
Just 21 seconds into the final quarter a defensive error by the Dutch on their left flank saw Sujit turning over the ball. That allowed Lalit Upadhyay the opportunity to cross it to an unmarked Gurjant Singh who ran into the circle and hit a cracking reverse stick shot past the keeper’s left foot.
There was plenty more action in the remaining minutes of the match but the score remained at 3-2, much to the relief of the home side.
Hockey Pro League Highlights: India lose to Netherlands 3-2 in FIH Pro League
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