Written by Abhijit Deshmukh (From London)
Despite Belgium, the Olympic champions, bringing some of their more established players back into the fold, India’s men side turned the tables in their FIH Hockey Pro League match in London on Friday, June 2. The Indians rebounded from a weekend setback at the hands of the Belgians to register a convincing 5-1 victory.
India jumped into an early lead, scoring in less than 90 seconds after Vivek Prasad got the ball at the top of the circle and beat Loic van Doren, the Belgian goalkeeper, with a thunderous shot. The lead was then increased in the second quarter. Harmanpreet Singh, all-time leading goal-scorer in the FIH Hockey Pro League, took care of business from a penalty corner, dragging it into the bottom-left corner.
India had a lot more to offer in the first half. Mandeep Singh made a terrific offensive move down the baseline with two minutes to go before the break, sending it back through the middle to Amit Rohidas, whose reverse-stick shot deflected into goal off Van Doren. They were not, however, finished. After Amit’s first drag hit Victor Wegnez, the Belgian defender, on the foot, Harmanpreet was on hand to tuck in the rebound for a fourth unanswered goal.
In a better second half, Belgium were able to apply more pressure and create many opportunities. They eventually broke through at the opening of the third quarter, with William Ghislain getting the better of PR Sreejesh, the goalkeeper who had a strong game. India, though, would have the last word. Dilpreet Singh hammered it through the keeper’s knees to restore the four-goal advantage and give Craig Fulton, the new coach, Craig Fulton his first win.
Manpreet Singh was named player of the match.
“A much better performance, much better performance,” said Fulton, who had previously spent five years as Belgium’s assistant coach. “In the final third, we scored goals and we defended well. Sreejesh played well to help us set the platform, but our first half was very, very good. Very happy with that.”
India had lost to Belgium and Great Britain at the end of May, as Fulton, who represented South Africa in two Olympic Games, was finding his feet in the new job. “Well, it’s discovering and learning, you know,” he said after this emphatic win. “We put on a performance to improve it. So where’s the gap, the Improvement that we need to make? It was definitely defending. We were just not defending how we know we can, but then we were also not as confident going forward. We practiced and trained well this week, and now we are pushing on with a good mindset.
“It’s been rollercoaster so far, to be honest. It’s been only three weeks now. So it’s early days, but I’m glad we can get the results and win against Belgium as well.”
It’s a crucial 15 months for Indian hockey, with the Asian Games mere months away, and the Paris Olympics in 2024. “We have got to get the squad up to a certain level, the way I want to try and play,” said Fulton “And then we’ve got competitions to try and test us. We obviously want to be ready to go in the Asian Games. I think the main thing is that we strive to be the No.1 team in Asia.”