Junior World Cup Hockey | India sweeps aside the Dutch to cruise to semis
The Hindu
India show grit+charactr to beat Netherlands 4-3 in Jr World Cup, setting up semifinal vs Germany.
India produced a spectacular display of grit and character to advance to the semifinals with a thrilling 4-3 win over the Netherlands in the hockey men’s Junior World Cup Kuala Lumpur on December 12.
Trailing 0-2 at half-time and 2-3 in the third quarter, India exhibited immense resilience to beat the Dutch in the quarterfinal and set a last four clash against Germany.
The Netherlands set the ball rolling early in the first quarter with a penalty corner conversion from Timo Boers.
Despite the Indian side playing a solid defence, Pepijn van der Heijden scored for the Netherlands in the second quarter through another penalty corner conversion taking their lead to 2-0 at half-time.
India came back strongly in the third quarter with a goal from Aditya Lalage assisted by Araijeet Singh Hundal.
Two minutes later Hundal scored the equaliser for India with a penalty stroke. The India Colts kept the pressure on the Dutch but they managed yet another penalty corner that was converted by Olivier Hortensius late in the third quarter as the Netherlands snatched a narrow lead of one goal at the end of the third quarter.
With less than ten minutes remaining, the Indians raised the tempo of their game and it proved fruitful as Sourabh Anand Kushwaha found the back of the net off a rebound following a brilliant attack to get the score reading 3-3.
Asian Games champion Avinash Sable opened his season in the 3000m steeple chase with a silver in the Portland Track Festival, a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze event, in Oregon on Saturday. He clocked 8:21.85s. Asian champion Parul Chaudhary took the bronze in the women’s 3000m steeple chase in a season-best 9:31.38s. Former Asian bronze medallist Sanjivani Jadhav struck gold in the women’s 10,000m in 32:22.77s, a time which was a second off her personal best, while Seema was sixth in 32:55.91s.