Sultan of Johor Cup hockey: India juniors go down 3-4 to Australia

India's Dilpreet Singh celebrates after scoring a goal against Australia during their Sultan of Johor Cup match in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, on Thursday

Johor Bahru (Malaysia), October 26: The Indian junior men's hockey team lost 3-4 to Australia in their fourth match of the 7th Sultan of Johor Cup 2017 at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium here on Thursday (October 26).

Dilpreet Singh (30th, 47th) and Sanjay (9th) scored for India in the match. But goals from Joel Rintala (3rd), Coby Green (36th), Jonathan Bretherton (45th) and Nathan Ephraums (49th) were enough for Australia to secure the victory.

Australia dominated the proceedings in the initial stages of the first quarter. The Australians won a penalty corner in the 3rd minute of the match, which was converted by Joel Rintala to give his side the lead. However, after conceding an early goal, the Indian team stepped up their efforts to score the equaliser. They won themselves a penalty corner in the 9th minute, which was finished off by Sanjay to make it 1-1.

In the second quarter, both side's defences showed resilience to keep out each other's efforts. However, just before the half-time hooter, a misplaced pass from the Australians led to beautiful counter-attacking play from the Indian side. Dilpreet Singh scored from just inside the circle with a fiercely struck shot to give India a 2-1 lead at half-time.

In the third quarter, Australia focused on getting an equalizer by controlling the rhythm of the play and attacking the Indian defence with some fast-paced passing. The Australians finally managed to convert another PC in the 36th minute when Coby Green found himself free in front of goal after the drag-flick was not successfully executed by his teammates. Australia scored again in the 45th minute to take a 3-2 lead when another unsuccessfully executed PC was followed up by a well-taken shot on goal by Jonathan Bretherton.

In the final quarter, it was India who had to put pressure on the Australian defence to find an equaliser, and they did so successfully when a long pass to forward Dilpreet Singh was calmly finished off by him to level the scores in the 47th minute. However, India could only stay level at 3-3 for two minutes as Australia's Nathan Ephraums converted a PC in the 49th minute to give Australia a 4-3 lead.

India will next face Great Britain on Saturday (October 28) at 1.35 pm.

Source: Agencies