Olympics: Harmanpreet, Sreejesh’s Heroes Help India Win NZ as 3-2 Hockey Opener | Olympics

Harmanpreet Singh made the match and veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh stood against the wall in the final minutes as the Indian men’s hockey team won a late ascent from New Zealand to nearly win a 3-2 win at their opening Olympics on Saturday.

Harmanpreet (26th and 33rd minute) double for India, while Rupinder Pal Singh (10th) was the second scorer for the eight-time former champion, currently ranked fourth in the world, in an A-pool match in Oi hockey stadium here.

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New Zealand’s eighth-placed Kane Russell scored a penalty in the sixth minute before Stephen Jenness (43rd minute) reduced the loss margin later in the match.

India will play the next awesome Australia on Sunday.

The Indians were shocked from the sixth minute when Russell found the top right corner of the Indian goal past Sreejesh in a hard move.

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Although the whole team were struggling to impress, India’s Mandeep Singh was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 10 minutes.

New Zealand should not be left behind because they allowed the Indian defense to beat their money by securing four consecutive penalty corners, but wasted everything.

Gurjant had a good opportunity to take the lead as India came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into the arms of Leon Hayward.

Four minutes after the second quarter, Hayward returned to the scene as he kept Indian skipper Manpreet Singh’s lobby separate from the situation.

But six minutes later, Harmanpreet led India 2-1 at halftime.

Three minutes after the end change, Harmanpreet was again in the middle when he changed the second corner of the day with an accurate shot.

India secured a second penalty a few minutes later, but this time Harmanpreet’s efforts were saved by the Kiwi defense.

The home crowd cheered when, after 43 minutes, Jenness’s charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day.

Three minutes after full-time work, Lalit Upadhayay’s strike from the top of the circle brilliantly fought Hayward to keep New Zealand on the hunt.

Everything was New Zealand in the final minutes of the game as they put a lot of pressure on the tie and earned three penalty corners in a row in the process, but Sreejesh came to the rescue of India and made great savings to keep opponents at bay.

After 24 seconds, New Zealand secured a second penalty kick, but once again experienced Sreejesh came to India to save and helped his party get a full point from the game. PTI SSC PM PM