FIH Men's Hockey Pro League 2023-24: India end mini-tournament on a high, defeat Ireland 4-0
India ended the home mini-tournament of the Men's Hockey Pro League on a high with a 4-0 win over Ireland in Rourkela on Sunday, February 25.
India thus registered their third win of the competition and the second against Ireland who are pooled alongside the Tokyo Olympic bronze medallists at the upcoming Paris Games.
The Harmampreet Singh-led side lost to Australia in Bhubaneswar while also notching up 2 shootout wins from 4 drawn games in the Pro League.
Daragh Walsh penetrated the striking circle early but the Indian deep defence was equal to the task.
John McKee threatened the home side with a scorching run in the fourth minute forcing Sreejesh into a save before Jeremy Duncan earned a short corner in the seventh minute.
Ireland failed to make the most of two back-to-back short corners but did enough to keep the Indian defenders on their toes. Jeremy Duncan had a chance to open the scoring in the 12th minute after having a ball angled at him at the goalmouth but failed to latch on.
India scored against the run of play with Nilakanta Sharma taking a powerful first-time strike on a rebound off a Harmanpreet Singh drag flick in the 14th minute.
Akashdeep Singh scored his first goal of the 2023-24 Men's Hockey Pro League with a diving full-stretch effort off a cross from Sanjay to double India's lead at the end of the first quarter.
Ireland, who dominated play for large parts of the opening quarter, found themselves 0-2 down in the space of a couple of minutes.
A diving deflection from Gurjant Singh off a peach of an assist from Manpreet Singh helped India take a 3-0 lead in the 38th minute.
Sreejesh, who guarded the Indian goal for the entire match in the absence of Krishan Pathak, was tested by John McKee's stinging shot in the 41st minute but did not allow the Irish to reduce the margin.
Jamie Carr came up with a brilliant save with a couple of minutes left on the clock before Ireland won a short corner which they failed to convert. Jugraj Singh scored India's fourth goal off a short corner at the death.
The Netherlands lead the Men's Hockey Pro League points table, India rises to third spot
Table toppers Australia and the Netherlands met in the penultimate game of the India leg of the Men's Hockey Pro League with the Dutch emerging victorious by a 5-3 margin on Sunday.
As a result of the win, the Netherlands have 26 points from 12 games even as an Australian team without Blake Govers crashed to their first defeat of the competition. Australia remains in the second spot with 20 points from 8 matches.
India now occupy third place after overtaking Argentina thanks to a 4-0 win over Ireland. Craig Fulton's team have 15 points from 8 games while Argentina in fourth place has 13 points from just as many matches.
Germany have 8 points from 4 matches. Spain, who ended their campaign with a 7-0 win over Ireland on Saturday, have 7 points from 8 matches.
The Indians will take on Germany, Great Britain, Argentina and Belgium when the Men's Hockey Pro League continues in Antwerp and London later this year.