Antwerp, June 14
The Indian men's hockey team suffered another heartbreak as they slumped to defeat despite taking a 2-0 lead as the Kookaburras bounced back to prevail 3-2 in the ongoing FIH Hockey Pro League 2024/25 here in Antwerp on Saturday.
Following four successive narrow losses in the European leg, the Indian team, sans their captain Harmanpreet Singh, had a dream start against Australia until they floundered in the final quarter, allowing their opponents to come back. It was goals by Nathan Ephraums (42'), Joel Rintala (56'), and Tom Craig (60') that put Australia ahead, while Abhishek (8', 35') scored a double for India.
It was an entertaining opening quarter with India taking the lead as early as the eighth minute of the game. The initial few minutes saw both teams trade chances in the circles until a perfect pass from the midfield by Manpreet Singh, who is on 399 international caps, to Abhishek positioned at the top of the circle fetched India a crucial 1-0 lead.
Abhishek did well to beat the defender to find the net. Only two minutes later, Australia threatened to equalise when James Collins won Australia's first penalty corner with some clever work in the circle, finding the Indian defender's foot.