Reclining their victory, Indian Men’s Hockey stuns Argentina by beating 2-1

New Delhi, June 25: Stunning the Olympics Champions Argentina, Indian Men’s Hockey team gave a tough competition registering their second consecutive victory in the 37th and last edition of the Men's Champions Trophy hockey tournament.

India scored both their goals in the second quarter through Harmanpreet Singh (17th minute), who converted a penalty corner and Mandeep Singh (28th). World number two Argentina's lone goal came from the sticks of drag-flicker Gonzalo Peillat, who scored from a set piece in the 30th minute.

India, eying their maiden Champions Trophy title, had earlier crushed bitter-rivals Pakistan 4-0 in their campaign opener yesterday. India now sits atop the six-team standings with two wins from as many games.

 

The eight-time Olympic champions will take on world champions Australia in their next round-robin match on June 27. Coming into the tournament on the back of a disastrous campaign at the Gold Coast Games, where they finished a disappointing fourth, the Indians made their intentions clear early on by showcasing all-around, compact hockey in their opening two games.

The Indians carried on from where they left against Pakistan last night and produced a solid display in all departments of the game to get the better of their fancied rivals. India got their second penalty corner seconds from halftime but Harmanpreet failed this time.

After the change of ends, the Los Leones pressed hard and in the process earned their fifth penalty corner, but the Indian defense was up to the task. Minutes later, Argentina custodian Santiago made a double save from a counterattack to deny Dilpreet and Mandeep.

In the final quarter, Varun Kumar made a goal-line save to deny Lucas Villa a chance to draw parity for Argentina.