Hero Hockey World League Finals: Netherlands outplay India 3-1 the final group stage match
India faced Netherlands in their final group game at the Hockey World League finals in Raipur. The Dutch overpowered the hosts 3-1 and stopped the Indians from registering their first win of the tournament.
The Dutch team started on the front foot and attacked the Indian goal from the word go. A couple of good saves by Sreejesh kept the second-ranked side in the world from scoring.
Ramandeep missed a well-crafted chance late in the first quarter which could have given India the lead, as the first quarter ended with a 0-0 score. The Netherlands had an astonishing 86% possession in India's half of the field.
The story of the second quarter was no different as the Dutch kept the ball to themselves and did not allow the hosts much space. The first half (or the second quarter) ended without any of the teams scoring a goal.
Few minutes into the third quarter, Netherlands earned the first penalty corner of the game and Mink van der Weerden converted the PC to make it 1-0 for the Dutch. The hosts pushed forward in numbers searching for the equaliser, but a Netherlands counter-attack caught the Indian defense napping and Marco Pruijser scored the second goal for the Netherland.
The fourth quarter started with a beautiful run by SV Sunil which earned a PC for India and Chinglensana Singh converted the same to make the score 2-1. The Indian defense was opened again as Roel Bovendeert sent one above Sreejesh's head and increased Netherland's lead to 3-1. The Indians tried to get one back but attacks did not materialise as the Netherlands won the match.
With this win, the Dutch top Group B. India will play the top side in Group A in the quarterfinal. Incidentally, this was Indian defender VR Raghunath’s 200th international cap.