Tri-nation hockey: India go down to Germany
India totalled four points from their outings, while Belgium were second with six.
New Delhi: India lost 0-2 to hosts Germany in their final league fixture, to end their campaign at the tri-nation invitational men’s hockey tournament in Dusseldorf with a win, a draw and two losses.
The hosts overpowered the Men in Blue in an action-packed encounter to emerge as tournament winners. Germany had previously beaten Belgium 2-1, drawn 2-2 with India and lost 2-5 to Belgium in their opening match to finish with seven points.
India totalled four points from their outings, while Belgium were second with six.
On the day, India earned a penalty corner in the second minute, but the German defence was too good to break for young drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh.
Germany slowly took control of the game and came up with a strong show in attack and ball possession. The hosts took the lead in the seventh minute when Thies Ole Prinz found the back of the net with a neat strike.
India played the second quarter cautiously, rotating the ball mostly between themselves and waiting for an opening in the German defence. Despite several circle penetrations, it took till the 29th minute for a real chance to materialise as India bagged their second short corner of the game. The opportunity went waste as Germany held on to their lead.
With time ticking away, India pulled out goalkeeper Akash Chikte in the last few minutes to field an extra attacker but still could not find a breakthrough. Germany, on the other hand, added to their tally in the 60th minute through Timm Herzbr-uch, for a well-deserved victory.