FIH Men's Hockey Pro League 2023-24: Rejuvenated Germans hand India a 2-3 defeat in third match of London leg
India went down to a rejuvenated German side by a 2-3 margin in an FIH Men's Hockey Pro League game on Saturday, June 8. India had registered a 3-0 win over Germany in their opening match of the London mini-tournament last week.
Short corner veteran Gonzalo Peillat gave Germany the lead in the opening minute. An astounding strike from Christopher Ruhr who returned to international hockey after a five-month hiatus doubled the tally for the Germans before Harmanpreet Singh found the target off a drag-flick.
Peillat threatened to take the game away from the Indians with a second penalty corner goal in the third quarter. Sukhjeet Singh scored an opportunistic goal from open play to keep Craig Fulton's team in the hunt, but the equalizer did not materialize despite a last-gasp effort from Jarmanpreet Singh.
An early penalty corner came Germany's way but Amit Rohidas was on hand to stop Peillat's drag-flick in the opening minute. Peillat made no mistake with the follow-up short corner which slipped between Krishan Pathak's legs a minute later.
Jean-Paul Danneberg came up with an outstanding save to deny Araijeet Singh Hundal, before the redoubtable Ruhr beat Pathak with a stinging strike from the edge of the circle in the 10th minute.
A foul on Hardik Singh helped his side earn a penalty corner in the 12th minute but the Indians made a mess of the set piece after a poor stop and had a re-award overturned by the video umpire.
The Indians lost their referral attempting to stop a German penalty corner in the 13th minute following which the world champions earned a couple more before the end of the first quarter.
Harmanpreet pulled one back for the Indians off a penalty corner in the 19th minute allowing the Indians to attack with vigour.
Peillat scored his second from Germany's tenth short corner in the 33rd minute to restore the two-goal advantage for his side.
Sustained pressure from the Germans kept Pathak busy in goal but Peillat was not on target with the short corner in the 43rd minute.
Shamsher Singh and Sukhjeet combined to reduce the margin in the 48th minute with Shamsher being credited with the goal. Jarmanpeet missed a chance to level things up at the death but it was the Germans who tilted the scales after losing the first-leg match.
The Germans earned 13 penalty corners converting two, while India earned four and managed to score from their third short corner thanks to Harmanpreet.
India are in fourth place in Hockey Pro League points table
The Indian team currently occupy the fourth place in the Hockey Pro League points table with one match left to play in their Season 5 campaign. They have 24 points from 15 matches.
With 27 points from 13 games, Australia are second in the points table, while Argentina who have 29 points have displaced the Netherlands (26) at the top of the ladder. The Dutch team still have four matches in hand.
Belgium has 19 points from 12 games, while Great Britain has 16 points from nine games in the Hockey Pro League.
India takes on Great Britain in their last match of the Hockey Pro League on Sunday.