Four Nations Hockey Tournament: India outclass New Zealand to set up final clash with Belgium
What's the story?
The Indian Men's hockey team stormed into the final of the Four Nations Invitational Hockey tournament which is being held in New Zealand after comprehensively beating the hosts 3-1 and will now face the in-form Belgium in the summit clash.
Harmanpreet Singh (2') and Dilpreet Singh (21') opened a big lead for India in the first half before Mandeep Singh (47') starred with a goal to lay the final nail in the coffin and trigger wild celebrations in the Indian camp.
In case you didn't know...
The Four Nations Invitational Hockey Championship, which comprises Japan, Belgium, India and hosts New Zealand kicked off on the January 17 at Tauranga and will culminate on January 21.
The heart of the matter
Following a moderate run in the FIH Hockey World League Final, India faced off against Japan in the opening game and brushed them away with a dominating 6-0 win to gain momentum early in the competition.
Dilpreet Singh and midfielder Vivek Prasad scored a brace each to set the tone in the match while Rupinder Pal Singh and young gun Harmanpreet Singh found the net in the first half to seal Japan's fate at the end of the first half.
However, in the ensuing game, the Indians found the Belgians too hot to handle as they crumbled to a 2-0 loss, failing to convert even a single of the four penalty corners that went in their favour.
Against New Zealand, India faced an uphill task of having to win to stake a claim in the final. Harmanpreet started off in fine fashion, scoring the first goal through a penalty corner before forward Dilpreet Singh's flick blazed through the New Zealand defence.
New Zealand's Kane Russell then slotted the ball in to ignite hopes of a comeback only to be quashed by Mandeep's strike that sent the hosts skittling out of the competition.
What's next?
The Indian team will now face off against Belgium, who will be on a high on confidence following a 6-0 win over Japan in their final league game.