Junior Hockey: India beat Argentina, to play Pakistan for 9th place

New Delhi, Dec 13 (IANS) India beat Argentina 4-2 here Thursday and set up a clash with arch-rivals Pakistan for ninth place in the Hockey Junior World Cup.

“Today we played a good match. Ramandeep played well and has come back to form. In the league matches, we conceded early goals, which affected the overall performance of the team. We are looking forward to our match against Pakistan. We will aim to finish in ninth position. I am sure the crowd will enjoy the match,” said India coach Baljeet Singh.

India got on to the score sheet first — Ramandeep Singh entering the circle on the right and blasting a shot from a difficult angle past Tomas Rearte in the Argentine goal.

Argentina suffered another setback soon enough as Amit Rohidas doubled India’s lead with a neatly struck penalty-corner.

After going down to the two early goals, Argentina was able to confine the play to the midfield until the 31st minute when Ramandeep cut through the Argentine defence, once again beating Rearte from an impossible angle.

Argentina pulled a goal back early after the break thanks to Lucas Martinez, but Gurjinder Singh re-established India’s three-goal lead with a low flick penalty-corner.

India refused to relent and created plenty of chances, even hitting the crossbar, but it was Argentina who scored next when Lautaro Diaz recovered wellx from a bobbled penalty-corner.