Indian Hockey
New Delhi: It is difficult to pitch on the right epithet to convey the mood of exuberance after India made the first entry into the hockey final of the Commonwealth Games on Tuesday. Before a huge crowd at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium and in a pulsating combat, embarked by some fantastic goals, India edged out England by a sensational verdict of 8 goals to 7 after the tie breaker to set up a gold medal clash with the Aussies on Thursday.
What was worth watching was the grit and determination of the home team to stage a comeback over a two goals deficit. The initial flourish, which brought India into the lead after Saranjit Singh netted, began to in the later stages of the first half. England used this stage to level through Ashley Jackson.
Jackson immediately added one more shortly after the break from a blinding penalty corner hit. Simon Mantell then converted one more to give England, what at that point, looked an unbeatable lead given the form of England on the field.
Rarely one gets to see the Indians stage such a recovery, which they did this evening. Even as visions popped up of India’s quest for gold might vanishing in thin air the team staged a historical recovery. In a spell that eloquently projected India’s hockey ethos of fluency, finesse and forward thrusts, Vikram Pillay deflected a long hit by Sandeep Singh into the net.
Within a few minutes came the equaliser by Sarvanjit off a pass from Sardar Singh. India had the whip hand in the extra time, but 2 costly misses by Tushar Khandekar extended the match into extra time.
If this in a nutshell mirrors the sequence of scoring, the report would be incomplete without a tribute to the role of Sardar Singh at the back line, Halappa’s forward passes, Sandeep Singh’s long and accurate drives that sent the opponent team’s defenders into a state of panic and finally, goalie Chettri for that brilliant save from Kirkham in the tie breaker that eventually kept India’s hopes alive.
India is now assured of a medal, which it got in 1998 and 2006. In total command from the push off, the Aussies authored 6-2 success against the Kiwis to make the 4th successive final in the men’s hockey competition. The margin clearly masks the effort, energy and efficiency of the Kiwis, who made a gallant bid late in the second half to keep the fight alive till the final whistle.
Tags: Chak De India, Commonwealth Games, Commonwealth Games, Hockey, Indian Hockey, Indian Hockey Team, Indian Sports, Sports, Sports India
