The Indian Men’s hockey team picked up a thrilling 6-4 comeback victory against Poland to get their hands on the inaugural FIH Hockey 5s Title on Sunday.
To kick off the journey to becoming champions, team India topped the five-team round-robin league with three wins and one draw. In their opening fixture, they beat the hosts Switzerland 4-3 and followed it with a 2-2 draw against arch-rivals Pakistan.
The following day, Graham Reid and his men outplayed Malaysia in a humiliating 7-3 victory with four goals coming in the second half before beating Poland 6-2 in the second match of the day. Out of the 19 goals India scored in the group stages, Raheel Mohammed scored three goals against Malaysia and scored a brace against Poland, making him the top scorer before playing the Final against Poland.
Indian Men’s Hockey Team scores in the FIH Hockey 5s | |
Against | Score |
vs Switzerland | 4-3 |
vs Pakistan | 2-2 |
vs Malaysia | 7-3 |
vs Poland | 6-2 |
It all came down to the final between India and Poland that took place on Sunday. The match began with Poland pressing high up the field, putting pressure on India which resulted in a three-goal cushion for Poland in the opening five minutes of the game, courtesy of Mateusz Naowakowski, Rober Pawlak and Wojciech Rutkowski. However, the Indian team responded quickly as they pulled two goals through Sanjay and Gurinder Singh within the next five minutes to make the score 2-3 going into half-time.
The second half was much better for team India as Bobby Singh Dhami went on to score the equalizer before the top scorer of the tournament, Raheel, went on to give India a lead for the first time in the game. Moments later, Raheel added yet another goal to his tally making the score 5-3, but Poland pulled one back through their captain Jacek Kurowski. A late goal from Bobby Singh Dhami right before the whistle ensured a 6-4 win to clinch the inaugural FIH Hockey 5s Title.
Meanwhile, the Indian women’s team could not make it to the final. Having lost to Uruguay and Poland on the opening day, the women’s team produced a brilliant comeback to beat hosts 4-3 in their opening fixture but missed the cut after being held by South Africa in a 4-4 draw in the last match of the group stage.
[Featured Image Credit: Hockey India]
Shashank Iyer