Paris 2024 Olympics: Indian men's hockey team beat New Zealand 3-2 in thriller to begin campaign on winning note
The Indian men's hockey team came from behind to beat New Zealand 3-2 in the first game of their Paris 2024 campaign on Saturday, July 27. The win was a repeat of the Tokyo Olympics result where India had beaten the Black Sticks with a similar scoreline in their opener.
Mandeep Singh leveled things up for India, scoring off of a short corner deflection after Sam Lane had given his side the lead via a penalty corner midway through the opening quarter.
A seemingly controversial goal from Vivek Prasad helped the Indians veer ahead just after half-time before Simon Child got his side back into the contest with a goal off a short corner in the final quarter.
India who are chasing a second successive podium finish at the Olympic Games in men's hockey clinched full points after captain Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty stroke at the death.
The Indians began with gusto but it was Lane who beat Sreejesh to give his side the lead against the run of play in the eighth minute after Greg Nicol's side earned the first penalty corner of the match.
The Indians manufactured a short corner in the 23rd minute before earning a follow-up award. Mandeep Singh made the most of the opportunity by shooting the deflection into the back of the net a minute later.
A goalmouth melee led to Prasad getting his name onto the scoresheet in the 34th minute as the ball trickled centimeters past the goalline even as the video umpire ruled no advice possible.
Unrelenting pressure from the Black Sticks led to a flurry of short corners in the final quarter with Child managing to level things up for New Zealand in the 53rd minute.
Harmanpreet made no mistake from a penalty stroke awarded to India in the 59th minute as a result of which the Indian men's hockey team will take on Argentina with 3 points in the bag.
India takes on Rio Olympics champions Argentina in crucial Paris 2024 Men's Hockey Pool B match
After an exhilarating 3-2 win against New Zealand, the Indians will be up against 2016 Rio Olympics gold medalists Argentina on Monday.
The Argentinians lost 0-1 to Australia in their opening game earlier today. In another Group B clash, Belgium got the better of Ireland 2-0.
At the FIH Hockey Pro League, the Argentinians held India to a 2-2 draw in a thriller which saw both sides score one goal each in the last five minutes of regulation time.
The second-leg game turned out to be another close affair with the Indians just about managing to earn full points thanks to a narrow 5-4 win with both sides scoring two goals apiece in the final quarter.
With Gonzalo Peillat, who played a crucial role in Argentina's Rio win, having moved to the German camp, the Los Leonas are not quite the force they were in 2016 but capable of surprising the best sides of their day.
The South Americans notched up an impressive seven wins out of 16 matches in the FIH Pro League while the Indians won just five games in the competition.
An exciting contest is on the cards when India and Argentina square off on Monday in a men's hockey Pool B contest in Paris.