KARACHI, 10 March 2005 — World junior hockey champions India staged a second-half fightback to hold spirited South Africa to a 4-4 draw in the four-nation Junior Invitational Hockey Tournament in Lahore yesterday.
The Indians, after suffering from a back-breaking 0-3 loss against archrivals Pakistan the other day, faced some anxious moments before managing to earn their first point in the tournament.
The Indians were 2-1 down at the half time but came back with a vengeance, scoring three goals in the second session.
It was quite visible, however, that the Indians are missing the services of their top players including short corner specialist Sandeep Singh and prolific striker Tushar Khandekar. The duo had to miss the event because of their college exams.
South Africa dominated the proceedings but were unfortunate to lose their tempo in the second half of the thrilling encounter.
Birendar Lakra gave India a 1-0 advantage when he took control of the ball from the half line and made a long sprint to the circle where both defenders failed to stop him from netting the goal. South Africa made it 1-1 in the 17th minute through Austin Smith on a penalty corner. They exerted more pressure after that and went ahead in the 24th minute through a beautiful field goal by Matthew McConkey.
The South Africans intensified pressure on the Indians and soon got a penalty corner in the 43rd minute, which was converted by Pierre Geldenhuys.
The match took a sensational turn when India accelerated the pace of the game and began to play aggressive hockey. They scored two goals in the 46th and the 47th minute. First Sardar Singh converted a short corner and then Birendar Lakra leveled the score to 3-3 by scoring a field goal.
The South Africans were ahead again in the 58th minute through a field goal from Matthew who gently pushed the ball towards the net to beat the defenders and the goalie. India made it 4-4 just three minutes later to end it in a draw.
Indian coach Harindera Singh hailed his boys for their never-say-die approach in the match but asked them to show more consistency.
“After a disappointing first half the team finally gelled like a unit to dash away South Africa’s hopes,” Harindera said in his post match comments.
India take on Japan in their next match today while Pakistan meet South Africa.
On Tuesday, Pakistan almost qualified for the with a stunning 3-0 triumph over reigning world junior champions India.
In what was supposed to be a close encounter, Pakistan displayed their prowess in the short corner department as they blanked India to register their second straight victory in as many days. They had beaten Japan 4-2 on the opening day of the weeklong tournament.
All three of the Pakistani goals came off short corners as the Indian attacks struggled in its opening outing in the quadrangular event.
The Indians, who were seen as the pre-tournament favorites, did not look in their element and it was pretty obvious from their rusty performance in the important game that they took the field without any match practice after arriving in Lahore just last night.
Indian head coach Harindera Singh admitted that his boys were off color in the match but promised a better performance from them in the coming matches.
“It was hard for my players to give their best because they never got any chance to warm-up for the match,” he said.
