The men in blue defeated Netherlands 4-3 to reach the semifinals in the FIH Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup on Tuesday. India made an incredible comeback from 0-2 down to level up the score and then finally shocked the Netherlands by winning the match.
India was trailing behind 2-0 at half time. In the first quarter, Netherland’s Timo Boers (5′) gave an early breakthrough to the team by converting a penalty corner. In the second quarter, Pepijn van der Heijden (16′) followed the lead and converted another penalty corner giving Netherlands a 2-0 lead at half time.
However, the Indian team made a great comeback in the third quarter. With the assistance of Arijit Singh Hundal, Aditya Lalez (34′) opened India’s account by scoring a goal. Two minutes later, Arayjit converteda a penalty stroke to level with their opponents.
Towards the end of the third quarter, Netherlands tried to pressure team India as Oliver Hortensius (44′) scored another goal to take Netherlands ahead to 3-2.
The excitement continued in the game as India and Netherlands both were giving a tough competition to one another in a fight to move to the semi-finals.
With less than ten minutes remaining, the men in blue increased the tempo of their game. Saurabh Anand Kushwaha (52′) scored off a superb rebound to level the score at 3-3. The final goal from the Indian side came in the 57th minute of the match from captain Uttam Singh. He converted a penalty corner to take India through to the semi final.
Rohit was awarded TNB Man Of The Match. India will now face Germany in the semifinal.