India Beat France in First Match on European Hockey Tour
Chinglensana Singh and SV Sunil scored a goal each as India defeated France 2-0.
India started their Europe Tour campaign with an impressive 2-0 victory over France at Le Touquet on Monday. Chinglensana Singh and SV Sunil helped India to dominate throughout the match and kept the European team in pressure. France came back strongly after third quarter but they failed to breach Indian defence-line. (Click here for latest hockey stories)
In the first quarter, both teams attacked aggressively on each others' half in an attempt to take the lead. After a series of attacks from both sides, India's midfielder Chinglensana Singh sneaked into French half and hit the ball in the goal-box to score the first goal of the match in the 18th minute. With this early lead, India took control of the match and put France under tremendous pressure. India didn't allow France to take control of the ball and the opponent struggled in the rest of the quarter. After an intense tussle from both sides, the first quarter ended at 1-0 score in favour of India.
In the second quarter, Indians came on the field with more confidence and maintained their control over the match. Led by captain Sardar Singh, midfielders SK Uthappa, Danish Mujtaba and Devinder Walmiki displayed a high-level hockey skills and kept their team attacking. Forward players SV Sunil, Ramandeep Singh and Akashdeep Singh kept on charging on the French side and played the ball in their half. After continuous attacks, SV Sunil dribbled past French defenders for the second goal in the 26th minute. Leading by two goals, Indian continued their domination on the match and maintained the score-card at 2-0 by the end of second quarter.
In the third quarter, France stepped in with aggression and surprised India with their quick passes. The hosts were desperately looking for opportunities to score goals and reduce the margin. They attacked the Indian side and tried hard to make some chances, which brought the tourists under pressure. On a few occasions, they came very close to Indian goal-posts but the defence-line restricted their attacks. In the last few minutes of the quarter, France earned a penalty corner, which was successfully thwarted by India goal-keeper PR Sreejesh and the visitors maintained the score-line at 2-0 by the end of third quarter.
The fourth quarter saw the closely-fought battle as both the teams pushed each other to score more goals. France played with more aggression and they managed to earn two back-to-back penalty corners. But both were saved by Sreejesh with his brilliant moves. India counter attacked on France's half and tried hard to increase the score-sheet. However, as the match got close to the final whistle, both teams challenged each other and fought hard for the ball possession and score more goals. After a neck-to-neck battle, the match finished at 2-0 in favour of India.
India will play their second and last match against France on August 5 at Wattigies Sports Centre.