Spanish Hockey Federation International Tournament 2023: Indian men hold their nerves to secure a draw against the Netherlands
After Indian women's nail-biting encounter with England, which ended in a draw, Indian men also secured a draw against the Netherlands. Indian women's hockey team came back from 0-1 to draw the match, while India led from the start but lost the lead in the third quarter of the match.
After going down to the hosts Spain in the opening match of the tournament, India needed a better performance to stay in the hunt for the final. Despite a better performance, the Indian men could not gather a victory but will certainly be glad to draw against a top team like the Netherlands, who had recently won the FIH Hockey Pro League 2022/23.
Harmanpreet Singh scored the goal for the Indian men's team
Captain Harmanpreet Singh led from the front and scored the lone goal for the team. Indian men began their attack early, compared to how their previous went. In the 12th minute, Harmanpreet provided the lead for the Men in Blue. India and the Netherlands had multiple penalty corners throughout the second quarter.
Notably, Indian star goalkeeper PR Sreejesh did not play in the first half. India's other goalkeeper, Krishan Pathak, stepped in to replace him and did an excellent job to keep the Netherlands' attack under control.
Sreejesh returned to the game in the second half and made an impact immediately with multiple saves. However, Jasper Brinkman produced the equaliser in the 40th minute.
In the dying moments of the match, both teams had multiple penalty corners, but they could not convert them into a goal and the match ended in a draw.
Indian men will have a rest day tomorrow and will be in action on Friday. They will take on England on Friday in the afternoon match. In the evening encounter, Spain will face off against the Netherlands. On Thursday, Indian women will be in action against Spain, as they search for their first victory of the tournament. All the matches will have a live-streaming on Watch Hockey.