India snatched a late 3-2 victory over defending champions Great Britain, courtesy of two goals from captain Rohit in the 13th Sultan of Johor Cup at the Johor Hockey Stadium in Taman Daya, Johor Bahru today.
The first quarter started with some early Great Britain pressure on India as the Britons went on to earn two penalty corners within a frame of eight minutes. It was a first of two-litmus test for India’s goalkeeper Prince Deep Singh.
India’s coach PR Sreejesh, said: “It was a good game, but a lot of opportunity we missed. That’s a big concern for us because when you are looking forward to this tournament, it’s really important that we take that opportunity and score when the team really required it.
“But I think the players are getting into rhythm and they are playing in a tournament after a big gap. So, we can say that we’re coming back into the tournament. Rohit, when he gets an opportunity, he tried to score because majority of the times when we got a penalty corner, he was not on the field but, when the right time came, the captain stepped up and he scored for the team,” observed the coach.
Both teams had their fair share of chances as the Indians, who defeated Great Britain 6-4 in the round-robin stage at the last edition, moved into top gear in the remaining minutes of the first quarter.
However, just eight minutes into the second quarter Ravneet Singh caused Great Britain defense problems with a field goal to give the Blue Shirts a 1-0 lead. Michael Roden, however, equalized for the four-time champions in the 26th minute via a field goal as the score stood at 1-1 towards the end of the first half.
The third quarter turned into a fun-fair of misses but things took a turn for the good for India and Great Britain in the 45th minute. India’s captain Rohit, awarded Man of the Match, extended the led to 2-1 from a penalty corner but the celebration went silent a minute later when Kaden Draysey converted a penalty stroke to drag the defending champions into a 2-2 draw.
Rohit, who has been entrusted to lead the side this season, taking over the captaincy post from Amir Ali, came to India’s rescue with a penalty corner goal in the 52nd minute to celebrate a 3-2 victory and their first three points in the tournament.
India’s next match is against New Zealand tomorrow while Great Britain will entertain Pakistan.
Great Britain head coach Jon Bleby, said: “I thought it was a really good game for both sides. We had a lot of chances and a lot of penalty corners. I was disappointed with our penalty corner execution. We’re a good penalty corner team and we mis-tracked quite a few.
“I felt as the game went on, we got a little bit tired and perhaps gave the ball away a little bit too easily and then we had to defend a lot. It was a really, really tight game and the yellow card and the penalty corner when we accidentally hit the umpire with a bit of protective kit,” he said.
