Hockey Pro League Highlights – India LOSE to Great Britain – India suffered their second successive defeat in the European leg of the Pro League 2023. The Men in Blue lost 2-4 against Great Britain on Saturday, 27th May 2023. Britain’s Tim Nurse, Tom Sorsby, Lee Morton an Nick Bondurak got on to the scoresheets. The only goal-scorer for India was skipper Harmanpreet Singh. With the win, Great Britain displaced India from the top spot of the points table. Follow Hockey Pro League 2023 LIVE updates on InsideSport.IN
Great Britain got off to a great start as they started attacking India right from the word go. Soon they managed to sneak in a goal. Lapse in defence from the Indian side helped Timothy Nurse slot in his first-ever goal for the senior side in the seventh minute.
India soon made a comeback. Mandeep Singh earned a penalty corner and Harmanpreet scored beating the German goal-keeper James Mazarelo with his dragflick. Both the teams ended the first-half with the score at 1-1.
In the second quarter, both the teams tried to take the lead as they created many goal-scoring opportunities. India earned three penalty corner opportunities but couldn’t convert even one. The Men in Blue however went ahead in the 28th minute. But the goal was denied after England took a successful referral as the goal came off a rebound after hitting the back stick of an Indian defender.
Towards the end of the quarter England earned a penalty stroke. Zachary Wallace shot was blocked by the experienced India goal-keeper as both the teams ended the first-half with one goal each.
In the second-half England started off with back-to-back goals. The hosts earned a penalty corner and Thomas Sorsby converted it. Soon Lee Morton with terrific dribbling skills ran past the Indian defenders to enter the Indian circle and slotted in a goal to give them 3-1 goal.
With under 2 minutes to go for the third hooter, India was awarded a flurry of PCs. Not letting this golden opportunity go wasted, Harmanpreet executed a perfect flick to earn India a much-needed breakthrough to narrow down the lead to 2-3. With the goal, Harmanpreet became the all-time best goal scorer in Pro League with 35 goals and also retained the top spot as the leading goal scorer in this edition with 13 goals.
In the final quarter, Great Britain continued to put pressure on the Indian defence. In the 54th minute, Nicholas Bandurak scored a field goal to help the hosts lead 4-2. India continued to create chances but could never add on to the scoresheet.
A PC opportunity, with less than two minutes left for the final hooter, brought some hope to Indian fans. But it was cleared off by GB’s PC defender Sorsby, thus ensuring GB three points from the win.India will next take on Belgium on 2nd June 2023.
Hockey Pro League LIVE: India aim to get back to winning ways, face hosts Great Britain
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