Paris Olympics: Morale-boosting start for Indian hockey team, beats New Zealand 3-2

Paris, July 27 (IANS) What a breathtaking start to hockey for India as the men's side registered a stunning 3-2 win over tough opponent New Zealand in a Pool B match at the Paris 2024 Olympics, here on Saturday. Mandeep Singh (24'), Vivek Sagar Prasad (34'), and Harmanpreet Singh (59'-pen) were the goal scorers for India while Sam Lane and Simon Child scored for the Black Sticks.

The never-say-die mentality of the Men in Blue was on full display on Saturday as they bounced back twice in the 60-minute encounter to stay in the hunt for a spot in the quarterfinals.

The start was enthralling, playing in front of a packed audience at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium. India looked dominant in the opening quarter, controlled the ball possession, and came up with bursts of attack led by Olympic debutant Abhishek creating all sorts of problems for New Zealand early in the game. He even came up with a fantastic shot on goal, but New Zealand goalie Dominic Dixon made a strong save.

India found themselves on the back foot mid-way through the quarter, when they conceded a goal in the 8th minute through Sam Lane's PC. Picking up from a good injection, Lane kept it low, aiming towards Shreejesh's right. His successful attempt put New Zealand in a 1-0 lead.

But India managed to bounce back in the second quarter with a sensational goal by Mandeep Singh. He showed brilliant presence of mind to pick up the ball from the New Zealand defender who had almost made a clear save from Harmanpreet's powerful drag-flick. He nicked it in close range to put India back in the game.

Though India looked a bit patchy in this quarter, allowing New Zealand to make interceptions and create counterattacks, the Indian defenders did well to keep the contest alive.

Following an enthralling first half, Vivek Sagar Prasad put India ahead by a goal in the third quarter. They had begun aggressively after the 10-minute half-time break with a constructive attack led by Mandeep and Abhishek in play but Vivek did well to pick up and finish the job.

Though this shot was referred to the third umpire, India was eventually awarded the goal making it a hard-earned 2-1 lead. The third quarter also saw some incredible saves by experienced India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh that kept India ahead of New Zealand.

The last quarter lived up to the billing of a fighting contest. It was intense, edge-of-the-seat action. Only a couple of minutes into the fourth quarter, India earned a fine PC - thanks to Abhishek. But Amit Rohidas's flick was blocked by Dickson.

New Zealand kept the pressure on India with their resilience. They won back-to-back PCs, and Simon Child did well to put New Zealand back in the game with his 53rd-minute equaliser.

With three minutes of play left, Sukhjeet managed to win India a much-needed PC. After two takes, India was awarded a stroke. This time, India captain Harmanpreet was on target making it a dramatic 3-2 lead, with the clock ticking away. With a little over 60 seconds remaining on the clock, New Zealand made some valiant attacks but to no avail, as India walked away with the crucial winning points.

On Monday, India will take on Rio Olympics gold medallist Argentina at 1815 hrs IST in their second Pool B match.

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