
Coming from a huge 1-7 loss against Australia, the Indian men’s hockey team managed to recover and overcome 3-0 against Spain to register their second victory at the Tokyo Games on Tuesday.
3️⃣rd #Tokyo2020 match
3️⃣ Splendid goals.@TheHockeyIndia have had a good morning indeed. 🙌#StrongerTogether | #UnitedByEmotion | #Hockey
— Olympic Khel (@OlympicKhel) July 27, 2021
Followed by India’s loss against Australia, the Blues had triumphed over 3-2 New Zealand in their opening.
India, at the Oi Hockey Stadium, started with dominance in possession at the introductory 10 minutes but failed to formulate any possibility to mark a goal while Spain enrolled their presence in the game later slowly and supervised to ensure their first penalty corner at the 12th minute which went in vain.
Indian missed their first chance of lead at 8th minute of their third Pool A match where Simranjeet attempt the mistake to misplace it with several shots and attack strived by the opponent but Simranjeet, to rectify of what he missed before scored to give a lead to his side with a hit on the counter at 14th minute. Just after a minute of the first goal, Rupinder Pal Singh without a mistake doubled the score at the 15th minute to give India a 2-0 head converting the fourth of the many penalty corners they earned.
PR Sreejesh who was called in the 24th minute directed his team brilliantly and ended Spain’s stint 2-0 at halftime. In the fourth quarter, it was again the Indians with their third of the game when Rupinder Pal Singh scored a brace extending to 3-0 against the Spaniards at the 51st minute.
The Spanish team went on the attack after trailing 3-0 but couldn’t survive to control and that’s how the match ended in favour of the fourth-ranked Indians and Sreejesh with a clean sheet.
India will next face the reigning Olympic champions Argentina on Thursday, who drew 1-1 against Spain.