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Indian Men’s Hockey Team defeat Netherlands to clinch series

Indian Hockey Men's Team

Indians celebrating after their win.

Indian Men’s Hockey Team put up a formidable performance to beat the Netherlands team in two successive matches. Thereby clinching the series 2-0 which has given a huge boost to their confidence. This match winning team play came up after two losses again team Belgium in their previous encounters.

India started the game with intense energy to put pressure on the home team. The positive intent worked as the men in blue created a penalty corner chance in the fourth minute. Varun Kumar’s drag-flick was padded away by the Dutch keeper. But Gurjant was quick to pick up the rebound and work his reverse stick magic to put the ball high up into the net to score his first international goal.

After a dominating first half, the men in blue were leading in the fourth quarter as Mandeep deflected a penalty corner variation into the goal.

The game underway

A desperate Dutch tried everything they could at the Indian post. Eventually, Saander de Wijn converted a penalty corner in the 58th minute to give them hope of a draw. But the Indians held on for the 2-1 win.

Meanwhile, in the first game, India thrashed the Dutch by the score of 4-3. Here, Manpreet Singh was the star performer with two exquisite goals in his kitty. This win came after being one goal down in the first quarter.

Amazing play by the Indian Men’s Hockey Team:

Here is what the captain, Manpreet Singh had to say on team’s amazing performance:

“I think we played well in all departments to win against the Netherlands. They are a very experienced team with more than eight players having over 100 international caps. So, to defeat them we had to come up with something special”

Further, he added:

“I am very happy with the way the team’s performance as one unit especially the players making their debut. They showed no sign of nervousness and played with a lot of confidence.”

Indeed it was praiseworthy gameplay by the young guns of the team. They face Austria in the next match-up on Wednesday. Hope they continue their ravishing performance ahead!