LONDON : Day two at the men’s Hero Hockey Champions Trophy 2016 saw Australia and India move marginally clear at the top of the league table thanks to important victories, while Germany were forced to fight back from two goals down for the second successive day to earn a draw at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park here. Goals from Mandeep Singh and Harmanpreet Singh earned Asian champions India a 2-1 win over home favourites Great Britain. SV Sunil turned supplier for 21-year-old Mandeep, with the former bursting down the right to supply the latter with a perfect pass for a tap-in two minutes into the second quarter. The advantage was doubled early in the third quarter by another youngster, with 20-year-old Harmanpreet Singh dispatching a penalty stroke.
An Ashley Jackson penalty corner rocket reduced the deficit but it was not enough to save his side from defeat. “I’ve been in India three years now and I hope that people see that we are improving”, said a delighted India Head Coach Roelant Oltmans. “That for me is the most important thing, that the team is getting better and in the end they showed a good performance today. We didn’t start too well, and in the first quarter we were struggling but after that we took control of the game. But overall, we saw some great performances from some young players. The team are surprising me.” It was a special day for India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who was victorious in his 150th senior international appearance. Germany rally to draw with Belgium 4-4
Title holders and reigning Olympic champions Germany overturned a two-goal deficit for the second time in two days to snatch a 4-4 draw against Belgium in a rain-affected opening match of the day. Belgium’s Red Lions fell behind to their European rivals twice before the half time break, with Sebastian Dockier and Arthur van Doren cancelling out strikes from Germany’s Tobias Hauke and Marco Miltkau. Another four goals arrived after the half time break – which started over 30 minutes late due to a torrential rainstorm – with Belgium moving 4-2 ahead thanks to Alexandre de Paeuw and a brilliant individual effort from Florent van Aubel, who ensured his 150th international appearance was one that everyone would remember. Just when it seemed that a Red Lions victory was on the cards, Die Honamas hit back with two goals in three minutes with Miltkau grabbing his second before Oli Korn secured a second successive draw for his team. “It was good that we got a draw in the end, coming back from two goals down is good to see and shows that we can come back”, said Germany goalkeeper Nico Jacobi, who alongside compatriot Benedikt F?rk played his 100th senior international match. (AGENCIES)
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