Indian hockey team off to a winning start against Argentina

BUENOS AIRES:

The Indian hockey team defeated Olympic champions Argentina 4-3 in the first practice match in Buenos Aires on Tuesday.

For India, goals were scored by Nilakanta Sharma (16’), Harmanpreet Singh (28’), Rupinder Pal Singh (33’) and Varun Kumar (47’) while Leandro Tolini (35’ and 53’) and Maico Casella (41’) scored for the home team.

The Indian team picked up pace in the second quarter with some great coordination between the players and took an early 1-0 lead in the 16th minute.

Subsequently, the Indian forwards kept on scoring at regular intervals, giving the Argentinians a neck-to-neck fight.

At one point, India was leading 3-0 and was eyeing a comprehensive victory. However, Argentina made a strong comeback in the 32nd minute and scored two consecutive goals in the 43rd and 53rd minute.

It was Dilpreet Singh who gave India the much-needed goal in the 47th minute to seal the victory.

The Indian team will play six matches during the 16-day tour.

(Edited by Shankar Kumar Turha)

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